On the Habit of doing more than paid for

I learned many years ago from Napoleon Hill in his book called 'Law of Success' the importance of the habit of doing more than paid for.

Napoleon Hill words in a much more eloquent way than what I could, so I'll leave it in his words:

“The farmer carefully prepares the ground, then sows his wheat and waits while the Law of Increasing Returns brings back the seed he has sown, plus a many-fold increase”

That's exactly what it is. The habit of doing more than paid for is nothing more than planting seeds and waiting for them to grow, knowing not all seeds do. And this is the challenge for most people. If they fully believed that by doing it they'd get more out of a job, they'd get more out of their personal relationships, get more out of life insofar as they're aren't completely lazy and uncaring about their craft, they'd do it. But there's no guarantee. There's never any written guarantee that consistently doing more than paid for will yield returns and that's exactly why it's so valuable. That's exactly why it's a competitive advantage for those who do.

Doing more than paid for is about positioning. Positioning with your stakeholders that you have what it takes to lead, that you can handle anything thrown your way and will get the problem solved when everyone else falters and quits and come up with a million excuses and zero adjustments. This positioning is not about being long hours in the office, it's about being effective and knocking down objectives one by one. It's about getting shit done.

But for me, the most interesting aspect of doing more than paid for, is that if you don't you guarantee you never will get paid more. Because those who do do are the stars, they're the ones getting noticed and standing out from their peers and they're the first in line for promotions and for handling the big and important stuff, because they convince everyone around them they can and will get the job done.

Many use the particular sentence 'But I'm not paid to do that' which at times is definitely the case, but that's exactly the reason why you should be doing it, Rafael. That's the reason why that experience, of going over and above, will make you grow and will increase your proficiency, your knowledge and give you the 'experience for free' on doing something you're not fully comfortable with but you decided not to run away from but tackle it head-on and do the best you can, which is all anyone can ask of anyone else.

Do not be afraid to do it, son, and do not be afraid you may not get it 100% right. Be prepared to apologize if it doesn't completely work out just as long you're being diligent and fair and professional. Do this consistently, and you'll set your life up for achieving great things and to always keep moving forward and not be stuck in any place in your life.

Choosing the path of doing more than paid for is about process not results, Rafael. And the funny thing about it, is that results will always vary throughout your life (it does for everyone), and may at times be good for you and at other times hurt you, but if you have the process right life can knock you down 1000 times that you'll always know how to get back up and keep yourself on a path that can only lead to doing and being more. I can see nothing wrong with that.