***Why be Ordinary when you can be Extraordinary?

It’s too easy to be ordinary. Or perhaps I should say it’s easier to be ordinary. Why would you want to be or do average when you can always be so much more?

When I was in school I always got A’s or B’s. Was it easy? No. I could have been average and gotten C’s but why would you want to be average? Anyone can be average. I’m not average, I’m me and there is no other me but me. Isn’t that the same for all of us? We are all unique and we can all be extraordinary if we choose to be.

After high school I became a manicurist. I could have been an average manicurist, but I wanted to be better than average. I did things a little differently. When artificial nails were the “in” thing and they would grow out you would fill in the space by the cuticle that needed filled in, hence a manicurist would do a “fill”. Most manicurists would just clip off the excess, file it down and fill in the space. But not me. I was known for going the extra mile. I gave a little mini manicure everytime. I’d push back and clean up the cuticles and give a nice little hand massage. Going that extra mile really set me apart from the competition. I was constantly getting referrals and repeat clients because I gave that little extra something beyond what was expected.

Later I became a Phlebotomist. Now, I didn’t do this job for very long but when I was in training and getting certified I specifically remember my instructor saying if you want to get recognized, do well and be promoted then don’t be ordinary. When the page comes in, you don’t wait to be told to take the call, you grab your kit and you get right on it. Always go above and beyond because anyone can be average. For some reason, that always stuck with me.

A few years later I went into sales. Just like everything else in my life, I went above and beyond as a sales rep. In my mind there is no point to doing anything if you aren’t going to give it your all. Why half A#* it? So I found a way to be different. Why would I want to be like everyone else? It’s easy to be ordinary. Most of the other people who did what I did were known for dressing business casual, being at the beach on Friday and really only making sales in the field when times were tough. I wanted to be extraordinary, so I always wore a suit, consistently made sales calls all day every day, and returned phone calls as quickly as I got them. My clients always told me that they gave me their business because I was in their office in good times and in bad, consistently and they knew if it was Friday afternoon or Sunday morning rain or shine I would answer my phone or call them right back. And to show for it I was almost always number one in my office, region, division and many, many times in the company. That’s not ordinary, it’s extraordinary.

If you can’t be the best at least be first. You never know where it will take you. What is the first name to come to mind if I say hamburger? McDonalds, right? Now I’m not knocking McDonald’s or any other fast food or business, but McDonalds does not make the best burger on the planet right? If that were the case, why is it that when I say hamburger the first name to pop into your head is McDonald’s? Because they were the first to mass market the hamburger. No other franchise or restaurant had ever done what they did. And look at them now. They could have been average. They could have done what they do in one or two little mom and pop restaurants, but no, they wanted to be the fast food giant, and they put franchising on the map.

There’s a great mini movie that really sends this message home. It’s called 212 the movie. You can find it at www.212movie.com. WATCH IT. You will love it. To give you a little hint on the gist at 211 degrees water is hot, but at 212 degree is boils. That one extra degree makes all the difference in the world.

Don’t be ordinary, anyone can be ordinary. Be extraordinary. Find your extra something and be it every day.

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