Recently, while going through a filing cabinet of old work documents and project folders, I uncovered a book that I first read in 2006. The best-selling booklet is entitled “212: The Extra Degree”, by Tom Parker. In case you don't remember this book or haven't read it, you still have probably seen the premise of this concept somewhere on the internet:
- At 211 degrees, water is hot.
- At 212 degrees, water boils.
- With boiling water comes steam.
- With steam, you can power a locomotive engine.
- One extra degree.
- It can make all the difference.
What if you translated that one additional degree to life and work? One simple degree more and you could potentially accomplish so much. One simple degree of achievement could separate good from great. One extra degree of effort could produce explosive results. One incremental degree could help you to achieve rather then just dream. The additional point in the book is that so many people work so hard every day. They get to 211 degrees and just don’t realize that 212 is right around the corner.
By pushing through and achieving 212 degrees, so much more is possible and attainable — it is just one extra degree.
This simple concept could also be seen as a great philosophy on accountability. Here’s a refreshing thought: if you work hard, you can get ahead — it is all up to you. The harder you work, the more incremental and positive activities you can fit into your day, and the greater your chance for success. No handouts or entitlements in this concept — it is all about personal accountability.
Find your vision or version of 212 degrees. It could be centered around any personal or business goal. It all has to do with your actions and reactions.
When I first read the book, I was — as I still am today — looking for simple inspiration for personal improvement. The concept of one additional degree was easily translated into my daily personal life and work life at the time.
In my hectic, daily business life, I correlated this to answering one more customer call, making one more sales call for the team, engaging in one more interaction with someone in the office, listening to one more person on my staff, helping to resolve one more issue, taking one more bite out of a long-term project. In my personal life, there were just countless ways that I used this concept for betterment.
You can probably find 10,000 personal motivation books in print right now. The point is not whether or not this book is better than any of the other published self-improvement books. The point to me is that this simple concept could help to make your daily personal or business interactions, tasks and goals, less nebulous, more focused and more attainable. The exercise here is to find 10 additional or incremental things you could do tomorrow to potentially unlock your 212 degrees.
While it seems like such a simple concept, there is great beauty in this kind of simplicity. It opens the door to self improvement in a way that is attainable for a greater population. Tackling projects, work responsibilities, and even life at home can seem overwhelming but sometimes all you need to do is move the thermometer just a little bit to realize big results.
Even the most seasoned professional is always looking for ways to improve and this approach just might be the answer for some...to a degree.
Ric McCullough is vice president of sales and customer service for PSA Security Network. Request more information about PSA at www.securityinfowatch.com/10214742.
