I believe we live in a world that is incredible. It is a world where people are wonderful, opportunities are plentiful, and anything is possible. I also believe, for the most part, we have been misled and mis-informed about what is a successful life, and what it really takes to live that life. We have been sold the idea that success is more about education, money, status, looks and achievement than it is about joy, love, and fulfilment. We have also been sold the mindset that any achievement takes talent, intellect, money, pain, and sacrifice. Well, I am here to sell you a different idea. The concept of… just one more!

I want to share just two personal and very simple examples to explain what I mean. Both affect my health and wellbeing; one is my daily step count and the other my crazy muscle-up obsession. I used to struggle to do 10,000 steps per day. In my mind, it was about as good as I could get, based on my daily activities. Don’t get me wrong, I think 10,000 steps are amazing, however, I got to the point when I decided to up my game. Fast forward to today where I am consistently doing 20,000 steps per day with seemingly no more effort than it took to do 10,000. How? Simple, just one more.

I never really set the goal to do 20,000. To me it was not achievable, however, I set the goal of just one more 1000 steps per week. That is just an extra 140 steps per day, nothing! Over time and with the ‘just one more’ attitude, I started to do more, believe more and now I comfortably do at least 20,000 steps every day. What’s the difference between 10,000 steps and 20,000 steps per day? Well, it’s not 10,000, that’s for sure. It is 70,000 steps per week, 3,640,000 steps per year, which equates to over 3000km (or 1900 miles) per year. That is the power of just one more.

I have spoken about muscle-up Saturday before. When I started, I couldn’t do much more than 50 in a session. This morning, I did 251. I have followed the principle of ‘just one more’. Each week, I added just one more set of 5, and it’s taken a couple of years to get to this place. Even this morning, when I started, I was overwhelmed by the thought of 251, but I knew I could do just one more. So, one muscle-up at a time, I achieved the target. Let me tell you, the benefit has been much more than the physical outcome and the blisters I have on my hands (which I wear as a badge of honour!). The greatest benefit is the power of the mindset that I have developed, and the understanding that anything I want, anything important and anything great is possible, if I follow the approach of ‘just one more.’

In my podcast this week called Play a bigger game with Kate Strong, she talks about many inspiring things. One of the many achievements she has enjoyed is being a world champion triathlete. When she started, she struggled to run half a mile. In two years, she was a world champion. Do you want to know how it happened? She simply followed the approach of ‘just one more.’ Just one more run, just one more kilometre, just one more stroke, just one more pedal, just one more hour and just one more day. With this simple and consistent process, she did what many would believe impossible. Anything is possible if you do just one more.

Where are you at right now? What are you doing, and where are you heading? Important questions to ask, for sure. Do you understand how dramatically your life could change if you were able to add just one more? One more what? One more of anything that will move you closer to your best life. What about just one more hug for the people you love? Can you imagine the impact that would have over one year if you just hugged the person you love one more time each day? How about one more phone call to meet someone, sell your business or set up an appointment? That would be an extra 360ish calls per year. Can you imagine what results that would bring? One more snack, one more step, one more word, one more message, one more dollar into savings or one more of anything that will help you. The power is not in ‘the one more’, the power is in the compounding effect of the commitment to ‘just one more’ each day. You can do that, can’t you?

I was excited to be asked to be on a national morning TV show recently to talk about my new book T.E.A.R.S. of Joy. It didn’t happen because I am an author. It didn’t happen because I played professional sport. It didn’t happen because I am talented, intelligent, lucky or know the right people. It happened because of ‘just one more’. I had sent out many emails to media people, and I decided on a particular day to send out ‘just one more’. Here is the email I received after this ‘just one more’:

“Your other emails must have either been stopped by the email gatekeeper or totally missed.  My apologies. What a terrific story of transformation and turning things around.  Probably a story of hope that a few hundred thousand people could do with right now.”

What are you missing every day because you are not living the ‘just one more’ life? Can I encourage you today, and every day that you are privileged to be upright and looking down on the grass, no matter how much you have already done, to just add one more! I look forward to hearing the stories that will come from this approach to life.