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The Power of One More: Unlocking Extraordinary Results Through Small Actions
What if the secret to extraordinary success wasn't about radical transformation but simply doing one more of whatever you're already doing? This is the central premise of Ed Mylett's transformative philosophy that has helped millions break through their limitations. A book that has become required reading for high performers across industries, "The Power of One More" has been praised by everyone from professional athletes to Fortune 500 CEOs for its practical approach to achievement. As Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson noted, "This isn't just another motivational book-it's a blueprint for actual transformation." What makes this approach so powerful is its simplicity: one more call, one more rep, one more try can be the difference between average results and extraordinary success.
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Resetting Your Identity Thermostat for Unlimited Growth
Your identity-the collection of thoughts, concepts, and beliefs you hold as the most genuine parts of your inner being-functions like a thermostat that regulates your life results. Just as a thermostat maintains a consistent temperature regardless of external conditions, your identity maintains your life at the level you believe you deserve. When results exceed your identity settings, you unconsciously "cool down" back to your comfort zone through self-sabotage.
This identity thermostat gets set early in childhood when we're defenseless against external influences. As children, we're blank canvases, absorbing messages from parents, family, and teachers without critical thinking skills. These early-formed beliefs become deeply ingrained limitations we carry into adulthood, often without awareness of their origins or impact.
To readjust this thermostat, we must work with three core principles: faith, intentions, and associations. Faith reminds us that we weren't created to live with a thermostat set at 75 degrees but at 100-our spiritual heritage calls us to live a full, unlimited life. With intentions, we must stop beating ourselves up and instead focus on positive intentions that program our brain to create our new identity. For associations, we absorb the traits and beliefs of those around us-we can't stay at 75 degrees if we associate with people operating at 100 degrees.
Self-confidence serves as the delivery mechanism for our identity. While identity represents your internal worth thermostat, self-confidence is how you express that worth to the world. The foundation of self-confidence is keeping promises to yourself-a form of self-trust. When negative thoughts and doubts emerge, visualize mentally recording them, then scratching them out repeatedly until they're completely blacked out, stripping them of their limiting power.
Beware of dangerous misconceptions about identity: believing we are what we possess (linking self-worth to material things); defining ourselves by accomplishments (creating an insatiable need to achieve); accepting others' definitions of us (seeking validation through compliments and social media); and overvaluing appearance (especially for women bombarded by beauty standards). True identity comes from character, intentions, and how we treat others-not external validation.
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Programming Your Mental Matrix to See Hidden Opportunities
Our reticular activating system (RAS) functions as our personal "Matrix"-filtering what we perceive as important while screening out everything else. This neurological system explains phenomena like suddenly noticing blue vans everywhere after deciding to buy one; they were always there, but now your brain flags them as significant.
Through intentional focus and visualization, you can program your RAS to identify opportunities aligned with your goals. When you strategically slow down your mental pace (like Neo's "bullet time" in The Matrix), you create space to see possibilities that were always present but previously filtered out. This mental slowing allows you to see One More opportunities others miss.
Your RAS creates a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you believe you're bad at golf, you'll likely perform poorly; if you believe you can master a new language, you'll see pathways to success. This explains the Law of Attraction-you attract what you think about because your brain literally filters your perception to match your expectations.
To program your Matrix effectively, begin with clear intentions, then create detailed visualizations of the process-imagining conversations, actions, and environments that will help achieve your goal. Repeatedly focusing on these specifics activates your RAS to work for you. However, visualization alone isn't enough-One More thinkers must combine mental programming with concrete actions.
Your Matrix works hand-in-hand with confirmation bias-the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of existing beliefs. When your Matrix generates specific expectations, confirmation bias reinforces them while undervaluing contradictory information. This process strengthens over time through selective recall, where you remember things that align with your desired outcome.
To optimize your Matrix, shift to a positive framework that removes fear and anxiety, replacing them with confidence and momentum. Intentionally elevate the quality of your thoughts by framing them positively, then repeat them until they become so embedded you're unaware they exist. Remove procrastination from your life-as Victor Kiam said, "Procrastination is opportunity's assassin." When you activate your Matrix properly, you'll bend reality and find One More opportunities that would otherwise remain invisible.
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The Compounding Power of One More Try
Life resembles taking swings at a pinata-there's often no external evidence of progress, which is why people quit before "the candy comes out." The harder it is to break open your metaphorical pinata, the more intense the rush when success finally comes. You must tune out naysayers and negative distractions to focus on busting your pinata wide open.
On April 26, 1998, after a disappointing presentation where only eight people showed up instead of the expected forty, Ed reached a pivotal moment. Rather than quitting as he'd done before when things got difficult, he decided to give his career one more try. That decision to refuse retreat and push forward changed everything, eventually leading to a business life worth hundreds of millions.
Years later, Ed's 17-year-old daughter Bella demonstrated the same resilience when seeking her first job. After being rejected by a pizzeria because she wasn't 18, instead of going home disappointed, she noticed a cafe next door, walked in, and was hired on the spot. This perfectly illustrated how One More Try transforms potential defeat into victory.
Your path to becoming an overachiever connects directly to One More Try through three principles. First, "Extremity Expands Capacity"-your greatest gains happen when you push yourself to new limits, creating extreme conditions that expand your capacity for success. High degrees of activity produce energy rather than depleting it.
Second, "Winning Is a Numbers Game"-success comes from commitment to executing basic tasks repeatedly with quality. Like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, the highest achievers condition themselves to incorporate One More Try into daily routines.
Third, "Nothing Creates Everything"-when you push yourself to emptiness, you create room for new experiences and growth. When you have nothing more to give (ex nihilo), you're ready to fill yourself up to a higher capacity.
Life won't hand you opportunities-you must create them yourself. Don't wait or hide behind insecurities. One More Try doesn't need to be perfect, just attempted. Even when you don't get exactly what you want, each attempt builds on previous experience, increasing your odds of success next time. As Mary Anne Radmacher said, "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'"
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Bending Time to Your Advantage
One More thinkers perceive time differently than others. While most accept there are 24 hours in a day, high performers know how to bend and manipulate time to their advantage. Time is constant, but we treat it as variable, with expressions like "this day is taking forever" or "that month flew by." Scientists call this "mind time" versus "clock time." Once you understand that you can alter how you perceive time, you can bend it to your advantage.
Time is more valuable than money because it's finite and irreplaceable. While money can always be replenished, time cannot be reclaimed once spent. As we age, our perception of time speeds up due to natural brain changes-neural pathways degrade, vision and brain plasticity lessen, and our information processing slows.
To master time management, implement these five principles: First, add more "days" to your day by dividing waking hours into three equal "mini-days": 6am-noon, noon-6pm, and 6pm-midnight. This means living 21 days per week while others live only 7. By creating shorter days, each minute becomes more valuable, increasing your sense of urgency.
Second, approach time with greater urgency. There's a direct correlation between how fast you'll run and how close you are to the finish line. Distance runners find another gear near the finish line, while sprinters go all-out from start to finish. Attack tasks with immediate urgency to reduce stress and increase accomplishment.
Third, control time instead of letting it control you. When you manage time with urgency, you become the master rather than the servant. The first 30 minutes of your day are critical-avoid phones, computers and other distractions during this time. Instead, plan your day, review priorities, meditate, pray, or update your goals.
Fourth, measure your performance often. Where performance is measured, performance improves. Average people assess themselves annually; top performers measure weekly or monthly; elite performers measure daily or even hourly.
Fifth, focus on the future. Too many people remain stuck in the past, which kills productivity and steals their ability to dream. While it's important to process past trauma, dwelling on "if only" scenarios only hurts you and those you care about.
When you incorporate these time management principles, others' perception of you changes. People stop wasting your time when they see you're no longer wasting yours. Your newfound time management becomes life management, opening doors to new like-minded people and adventures you once thought impossible.
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Mastering Your Emotional Home
Our lives are directly linked to the quality of our emotions. Those who regularly experience bliss, joy, and peace lead incredible lives, while those dominated by hate, sorrow, and anxiety do not. We each experience five or six consistent emotions daily, and our minds seek these familiar emotions even when they don't serve us well.
Emotions are the primary drivers of your personality, influencing hundreds of daily decisions. Unlike desire and knowledge which we acquire through life, emotions are innate-we're born as emotional creatures. They're coded into our DNA as lower-level responses to environmental threats, originating in subcortical brain areas including the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortices.
All emotions serve a purpose-negative emotions provide valuable cognitive information, helping identify threats and see both sides of situations. Fear and anxiety can spur positive action when properly recognized. Guilt connects to our moral compass, keeping us from harmful behaviors. Even jealousy can be reframed as "benign envy" that motivates achievement. The key is preventing negative emotions from becoming an endless cycle that impairs thinking.
We often take actions believing they'll produce particular emotional responses-buying flowers to feel love, hiking to find peace, working hard for recognition and pride. Though we might prefer to hoard only positive emotions, all emotions are normal. Attempting to repress negative emotions disrupts a delicate balance, creating emotional clutter that distorts reality.
Sorting through emotions requires intentionality. Our emotional homes contain either positive emotions like bliss and satisfaction or negative ones like resentment and distrust. We become desensitized to these emotional houseguests, especially when failure reinforces negative feelings. Emotional decluttering means removing these unwelcome guests to make room for positive emotions.
One More thinkers must actively choose to replace harmful emotions. Taking action to acquire wealth or success isn't enough-many wealthy people lead miserable lives because they weren't intentional about cultivating happiness, gratitude, and kindness. Ask yourself what price you'd put on joy and happiness. Would you choose $100 million with no peace, or $1 million with contentment and loving relationships?
To reframe your emotional mindset, start with meditation. Daily meditation helps clear negative thoughts, practice gratitude, and focus on priorities. Also essential is finding balance-if you only work without rest and recovery, negative emotions pile up as emotional clutter. Identify your emotional triggers and put them in perspective-some things you can control, others you can't. As Proverbs 23:7 reminds us, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
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Cultivating Life-Changing Associations
You could be just one association away from changing your entire life. As a One More thinker, you must continually refine your peer group so they add value to your thoughts, goals, and standards. Who you allow into your inner circle is critical-you must cultivate these relationships as an investment in yourself.
Your relationships directly impact how you function in the world. From birth, you've bonded with others-first caregivers and family, then friends and colleagues. As John Donne wrote, "No man is an island"-you're part of an interlocking web of humanity that shapes your identity through your associations. The people you spend the most time with influence you the most.
Think of your relationships as concentric circles-a bull's eye with you at the center. The outer ring contains strangers whose impact is negligible. Moving inward are acquaintances you see occasionally, then casual relationships with whom you interact comfortably but in a limited way. The innermost circle consists of just a few people who impact you daily-not necessarily family members, as there are no rules that automatically grant access to blood relatives.
Your inner circle influences you most profoundly. Consider who you've spent the most time with over the past 90 days. Do they possess qualities you want in your own life? If not, these relationships may not serve your inner circle needs. Conversely, if they embody traits you don't want-being broke, unfit, angry, or lazy-you must evaluate your proximity to them immediately.
Quality matters more than quantity-even brief time with the right people makes a significant difference. Think of famous inner circle friendships like Jobs and Wozniak or Buffett and Munger. Great accomplishments often come from a single vision realized through an inner circle's support. When your inner circle aligns with your values, life flows more easily.
When selecting your inner circle, look for emotional maturity, steadying influences, happiness, productivity, loyalty, and rational decision-making. Reverse engineer your associations-if someone has clear expectations for their own life, that's what you should expect in yours through the relationship. Limit interaction with emotionally immature, unhappy people to avoid their negative emotional vortex.
Your inner circle must consist of good human beings who treat others well, are ethical, compassionate, and protective of the vulnerable. They should inspire you viscerally and complement your weaknesses. When you remain in bad relationships, you don't make room for better "One More" associations that can transform your life.
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Reimagining Your Future Through Dreams
The happiest people operate from imagination and dreams rather than history. This powerful mindset shift requires concentrated effort to break ingrained thought patterns. You cannot experience your best life while operating from your history or memories of the past.
Children are happier because they live in the present, filled with reverie and creativity, unburdened by the past. They freely pretend to be superheroes or princesses. Yet as adults, we rarely dream-despite dreaming being free and one of our greatest gifts. Instead, we're weighed down by our pasts, carrying mental "suitcases filled with cement" that we're afraid to put down because they're familiar.
Despite growing and learning, your emotions and happiness remain unchanged because you're stuck in unconscious replay loops linked to your past. Awareness is kryptonite to these negative thought patterns. We crave order and problem-solving because it feels good, making us intimidated by unknown futures.
The first step toward your future is acceptance. As Deepak Chopra teaches, "I use memories, but will not allow memories to use me." Your brain is like a glass that can only hold so much-when filled with your past, there's no room for dreams. Make peace with your past to empty that glass, but don't spend too much time doing so.
Thomas Edison's imagination transformed humanity with 1,093 U.S. patents, including the light bulb after 1,000 attempts. He viewed these not as failures but as "10,000 ways that won't work." Dreams are your imagination at work-therapeutic and healthy. The best dreams happen when you're wide awake, in that dimension where consciousness extends beyond present time and space.
Granting yourself permission to dream is a precious gift, though you'll face hurdles of self-editing thoughts based on fear of judgment or rejection. Forgiveness-of others and yourself-creates space for dreams. Identify the mental boulders blocking your path-"I can't," "I'm not good enough," "I'm too old/young"-and replace these negatives with dreams that are exact, specific, and repetitive.
When you intentionally act upon your dreams, you'll naturally attract what you need while bad habits and relationships that no longer serve you fade away. You'll realize it wasn't always the relationship you valued, but how it made you feel. New dreams rewire your life, making room for new relationships and adventures that lighten your load and reveal exciting possibilities as you move toward your future.
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Asking Better Questions for Extraordinary Results
Most people never think about what they think about-a powerful meta-cognitive question that can lead to fundamental change. Thinking is the continuous process of asking and answering questions of yourself, occurring thousands of times daily, often subconsciously. The quality of your life is directly proportional to the quality of questions you consistently ask yourself. If you want to change your thoughts' quality and ultimately your life's trajectory, you must first change the questions you habitually ask.
Most people unconsciously ask questions that make them weaker or less resilient: "Why does this always happen to me?" "What if I fail?" "Why bother trying?" In contrast, One More thinkers deliberately ask better questions that lead to empowering answers and ultimately a better life: "What can I learn from this?" "How can I turn this challenge into an opportunity?" "What would this look like if it were easy?" Self-examination, though sometimes uncomfortable, is critical for uncovering wisdom and truth about yourself. Often, just one more thoughtful answer can produce dramatic life changes by removing long-standing mental roadblocks. As Eugene Ionesco profoundly noted, "It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question."
The best answers to life's important questions are frequently the most uncomfortable ones, requiring courage to face. There are indeed "dumb questions"-those that don't challenge your assumptions, stretch your thinking, or provide only convenient truths that maintain your comfort zone. If you're content being average because you're comfortable, scared, or lazy, then don't ask growth-inducing questions. But as civil rights activist Ruby Dee wisely observed: "The greatest gift is not being afraid to question."
Some questions won't have immediate answers-or any answers at all-but give yourself credit for having the courage to ask them. Enlightenment follows many paths; some answers arrive like lightning bolts of insight, while others gradually develop over time through reflection and experience. Living with extraordinary questions and persistently pursuing their answers is a hallmark trait of a One More thinker, setting them apart from the average person who avoids difficult self-inquiry.
Transform your life by asking powerful "One More" questions daily: What one more thing can I do to show my spouse I love them? What's one more way I can adjust my thinking so I make fewer excuses? What one more way can I become healthier? Is there one more way I can express gratitude for the gifts I received today? What's one more step I can take toward my most important goal? What's one more person I can help today? These questions encourage deep examination of your life, focusing on incremental improvements that compound over time, leading to extraordinary outcomes when consistently applied. The key is not just asking these questions once, but making them part of your daily mental routine, creating a habit of excellence through continuous self-improvement.
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Achieving Extraordinary Balance Through Equanimity
Equanimity is the quiet glue underpinning the strategies in this book-a state of mental calmness and serenity in a world filled with stressors. It's about finding balance when facing life's challenges, recognizing that while we can't control outcomes, we can control our responses. The highest achievers maintain equanimity precisely when others can't, making it the invisible separator between elite performers and average ones.
This ancient philosophy appears across religions from Christianity's "peace be with you" to Buddhism's teachings on mental balance. Equanimity comes from the Latin word quanimitas, meaning "having an even mind." Finding this mental balance is a lifelong pursuit that becomes most valuable under stress.
Equanimity can be broken down into key elements: finding serenity amid life's battles; accepting what cannot be changed; recognizing impermanence-understanding that nothing, good or bad, lasts forever; letting go of attachments, as Buddha taught that attachment is the origin of suffering; embracing our insignificance to liberate ourselves from self-imposed pressures; and accepting change rather than fighting it.
Buddhism identifies four pairs of opposing states called the Eight Worldly Winds: pleasure and pain, praise and blame, gain and loss, fame and disgrace. These winds affect our minds daily-falling in love then discovering betrayal, achieving success then facing bankruptcy, admiring heroes then discovering their flaws. The goal of equanimity is to lessen these winds' effects by finding balance-neither getting too high nor too low.
People generally fall into four categories regarding equanimity: aggressive with equanimity, aggressive lacking equanimity, passive with equanimity, or passive lacking equanimity. The ideal state is "aggressive with equanimity"-maintaining drive while finding mental peace. Being passive with equanimity won't help you accomplish significant goals; you need tenacity to get things done.
The journey to equanimity takes years of mindful intention, understanding it's not permanent but fluctuates with life's challenges. Finding this balance makes many other good things possible, allowing you to pursue your goals with both passion and peace-the ultimate expression of the One More philosophy.
