This was the mantra of my basketball coach in high school. He would always preach that in practice. Every drill required us to go above and beyond. It is funny that I can still remember it like it was yesterday. I think you could ask former student and they could come up with that same quote. And you know what it is true. It only takes a little bit more to become the best at what we do. It is the little things that separate the successful from the average.

I just finished reading a book called the Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. The basic premise of the book is that if you make small changes in your behavior, over time it will lead to astonishing results. If you were to eat 125 less calories each day, over 3 years you would lose a significant amount of weight. If you were to take a penny and double it over 31 days, you would have over 10 million dollars.

So tomorrow when you don’t feel like exercising, reading that book on leadership, or packing your lunch to save up money for what is really important, just remember it just takes a little bit more to go first class.