“Let me leave you with this one final thought about time from Charles Darwin. “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”

Ed Mylett is a professional motivational speaker and self-help author. I recently read his book, The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success. This book is about mindset to achieve your goals, and live a happier, more productive life. There are many lessons in this book, but here are 10 that I really enjoyed.

Main takeaways:

1. Set High Standards: The more you’re unwilling to tolerate, the sooner you’re going to get yourself to work on your problems before they become larger problems. For example, if you have high standards for your body weight and fitness, you start making adjustments to your diet after you’ve gained 10 lbs of fat. Opposed to gaining 70 lbs over the course of years, and then the doctor informing you that you’re borderline diabetic and you have to make changes now. The higher your standards, the more prompt you’ll be at fixing your problems, which prevents them from becoming disasters.
2. Change your perception of time: Ed explains that we need to change how we think about time. Instead of thinking of the day as being from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed, Ed has 3 days in one day. His first day starts at 6am when he wakes up, and ends at Noon. His 2nd day starts at Noon and end at 6pm. And his 3rd day starts at 6PM and ends at Midnight. Each of those days, he focuses on a sprint which has an urgent deadline. He has no time to procrastinate on his tasks. Instead, he focuses on having quality time with his family and friends, focus during his workouts and his work.
3. Understand your emotions: When you are constantly feeling specific emotions, it’s because your brain is comfortable with these emotions. Even if they are negative emotions, you are comfortable with what you’re familiar with. Identify which emotions you want to regularly go to and associate them with the triggers that lead to the emotions you want to drop. For example, rather than getting anxious or nervous during high stress situations, you can associate that trigger with calmness or determination.
4. Dream big enough for other people to fit in: If your dreams are only big enough for yourself, you’re not dreaming big enough. You need your dreams to be big enough to fit others in there as well. Your dreams should fit in your family, friends, employees, etc. Not only should you have faith in yourself to achieve these larger dreams, but the people around you are more likely to care about your dreams when you include them into your dreams.
5. Just one more day: Ed shares a powerful and heartfelt story about his father, who he respects more than anyone else, who battled alcoholism. His father was given an ultimatum by Ed’s mother that he had to quit alcohol or it’s over. Ed’s father had to live with the mindset of staying sober for “just one more day” every day of his life. He couldn’t risk messing up one more time, otherwise he loses his family forever. Not only do we get the lesson of breaking down a giant goal (staying sober forever) to micro goals (staying sober for just one day), but Ed also shares about the importance of appreciating your time with your loved ones. Since Ed’s father has passed away, he wishes he could spend just one more day with him. We need to slow down and appreciate the time we spend with our loved ones, and treat each opportunity as if it can be the last.

In conclusion, Ed Mylett’s book, The Power of One More, is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to achieve their goals, live a happier and more productive life, and make a positive impact on the world. By setting high standards, changing your perception of time, understanding your emotions, dreaming big enough, and appreciating every moment, you can unlock your full potential and achieve greatness. If you need help setting goals and creating a vision statement, consider working with me through my 12-week accountability coaching program. Together, we can achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality.