Built to Grow

Chapter 15Your Journey to Mastery

‘There are no crowds lining the extra mile!’

There is a saying: there are no crowds lining the extra mile. Masters of their craft, whatever their specialist field of endeavour, are part of a select group of people who really live this saying.

Why? Because the extra mile is where they spend most of their time. They don’t subscribe to the tribe of life; the herd mentality. For them, a life of mediocrity is not an option.

Instead they invest their time every day in being the best of the best, raising their personal standards and chasing perfection. Even though perfection isn’t truly attainable, they know by going the extra mile they may just catch excellence on the journey.

If you have read Built to Grow, you can call yourself a part of this group, committed to achieving greatness, already living your life on the extra mile. If this is your first experience of Built to Grow; if you’re one of those who opens at the end, this chapter will give you several excellent reasons to explore the rest of the book.

Being Committed and in the Arena

Famed Scottish mountaineer W. H. Murray put it rather beautifully, thus:

‘Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur ...