All It Takes is One Extra Degree
Recently I had a friend who shared with me a link to a 3-minute video. The video was called 212° and drove home a point about the difference between success and failure as being just 1°.
The video starts off stating,
“At 211° degrees, water is hot. At 212° degrees, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive.”
It made me think about the times in my life where I turned up the “heat” for something that I really wanted. My first real job, pursuing baseball at the collegiate level, learning to play the trumpet or being left behind a year in band. It made me realize that the difference between my successes and failures, whether I got the most or fell short, was turning up my focus that extra degree.
This video (which is really the companion to the associated book) was created by Mac Anderson. Mac is the founder of Simple Truths and Successories, which is based in the Western Suburbs of Chicago.
News reports by CBS Chicago and The Chicago Tribune, have credited this book/video with motivating the Chicago Bears to their NFC Championship and first Super Bowl appearance since 1985.
According to the story, Insurance Executive and former NFL Player, John Wright, gave a copy of the 212° video to Charles “Peanut” Tillman (DB for Bears). Tillman who often spouts quotes when being interviewed, was moved by the video and book. He asked for additional copies to give to his fellow DB’s and eventually copies made their way into every player and coach on the Chicago Bears.
Unfortunately, it appears that our Chicago Bears lacked that 1° at the Super Bowl last week, but it was a phenomenal season and one to build on for 2007-2008.
This video is simply a promotion for the book 212° which is sold at the Simple Truths Web site, however the video is a great motivator and pick me up in 3-minutes time.
Enjoy the 212° Movie here and Go Bears in 2007-2008!
July 6th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Well I’d argue that what the Bears were missing was a quality QB, rather than that last degree.
But that shouldn’t diminish your point, which is a valid one.
The question becomes, at what point is the issue motivation and what point ability? At 5′8″ there’s not a motivational philosophy in the world that would make me an NBA center. On the other hand, clearly I can eek out some sort of living in the networking business. Between those two items is a larger gray area of things that I can do and things I cannot. Motivation will never make me accomplish something that I simply cannot do, but motivation certainly can (and is) the difference in whether or not I can accomplish something that is within my capabilities.
July 6th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Chris,
Thank you for your comments. I agree whole-heartedly, talent is a key factor in being a success at anything in life. However, there are so many “talented” people in life who never realize their full potential, all because they are missing that ‘extra degree’. For whatever reason, maybe they don’t know or believe they can be even better or maybe they aren’t as passionate about what they are doing either. Whatever the case, they are simply “average” at what they do.
The video assumes that the passion and some talent are already there. This is about what it takes to make the difference between good and great or simply making your best even better.
My entire life I had to fight the stereotypes regarding my size when it came to baseball. I was never the most talented, but I had heart and the passion to succeed. I never gave up and I used the motivation of proving to everyone that I was a good ball player. I used the motivation and desire to play college baseball to land an athletic scholarship to play baseball in college. When I was offered this scholarship, my teammates from my summer team didn’t congratulate me, they were simply astounded that I was offered a scholarship and were looking for reasons “why”. The problem was they were looking at me, instead of themselves. Maybe if they were “motivated” enough they could’ve gotten a scholarship of their own.
I never gave up, and lord knows that if I had listened to everyone else, I would’ve given up in high school. Going back to the premise of this post, it wasn’t my talent that got me the scholarship it was simply passion and turning it up that one extra degree.
P.S. A player by the name of Spud Webb might have a “little” something to say about height and playing in the pro’s.
But I get your point…