In this excerpt from his book, 212 Degrees, Mac Anderson, the founder of Successories, puts a new perspective on pushing yourself–and others–to success. I still remember fondly the first time I met Mac in 1994 . It was in his Chicago offices where he was able to make me feel welcomed, and truly inspired. While becoming a Successories franchisee was a definite challenge, we did it! Ultimately, what it did teach me was to believe in the pursuit of my dreams . The life lesson remains: As he points out in his book, that one extra degree of effort in business, can change your life.

“Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison, American Inventor, 1847-1931

At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive.

Raising the temperature of water by one extra degree means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine – a beautiful, uncomplicated metaphor that ideally should feed our every endeavor – consistently pushing us to make the extra effort in every task we undertake. 212 degrees serves as a forceful drill sergeant with its motivating and focused message while adhering to a scientific law – a natural law. It reminds us that seemingly small things can make tremendous differences. So simple is the analogy that you can stop reading right now, walk away with the opening thought firmly planted in your mind, and benefit from it for the rest of your life.

You now have a target for everything that you do…212 degrees. You may not always be able to turn up the heat and hit the boiling point, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make the attempt. It’s what you’d advise others to do and it’s what we should teach our children.

It’s your life. You are responsible for your results. It’s time to turn up the heat.

From this day forward, commit to operating at 212 degrees in everything you do. Etch it into your thinking–into your being. Apply it to your actions. It guarantees to increase your results positively and, in so many cases, increase your results exponentially.