What can we learn from a witty manufacturing company? More than a bit.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]
Breville must have had endless production and marketing meetings about putting a button on their toaster that says, “A Bit More.” It doesn’t say “Extend Cook Time” or “10 Seconds” or just not have such a button. Who knows, maybe there were no meetings, maybe the project lead had the idea and it was done. No decision, no discussion, just a gutsy move beyond the normal. Just a bit beyond.
With the toaster (and your toast), it’s easy: just press the button for a bit more. But what about in your life? When you’re almost to the finish line, but you just don’t think you can make it? Or you’re at the finish line, but you know your personal finish line is just a little further. You get the to the end of the road and there’s a wall. Ugh! Really? Can you do it? You know you can do it, but will you?
That little bit more can take as much energy as the whole thing.
If I stick with the finish line example, you’ve run the entire marathon, you’ve done the work, you’ve been training, this is it. You’re done, you’re finished, you don’t even want to do any more. Do you need to? Did you achieve what you set out to achieve? If so, great. Or are you at the finish line and somehow you know you’re not there yet.
You were willing to come this far, but maybe the 26.1 miles was not enough and that bit more is 26.2 away. That last tenth of a mile is going to take all of your remaining energy. When you get there, you will ask yourself, consciously or subconsciously, “Was it worth it?”
There is some inverse exponential mathematics going on here. That is to say, that last tenth of a mile, just a fraction of the entire race you just ran, is possibly going to cost you a huge amount of energy. Maybe even more than the whole race you just did. But here’s where the exponential factors come in: that last bit, just a bit more, seems so small, but you’re so tired, you’ve done so much, you can’t imagine going on, you don’t even know if running is really for you, but you do it.
When you do it and you arrive, the joy and sense of achievement is exponentially greater than the amount of effort you put into it. So you have to ask yourself, “Was it worth siphoning out that last bit of energy?”
You won’t know until you’ve done it. You know your limits. You know where your finish line is and how much further A Bit More is. You know you can do it. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. It’s not a question of ability, it’s a matter of will, determination, patience.
You’ve been doing the work. You’ve come all this way. You stand in glory at the finish line, but you look beyond. While everyone else is looking back to what you’ve done, you’re looking ahead. It’s not far, it’s not much, but it’s going to take a Herculean effort. It’s more, but it’s just a bit. A bit more.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]