You Might As Well Aim For The Moon. You Just Might Make It.

Norman Vincent Peale said, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

Many times, we impose limits on ourselves that are not really there.

Just like Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.”

My goal as a pole vaulter was to make it to the Olympics and set a world record of nineteen feet four inches. The world record at the time was only eighteen feet eleven inches.

I didn’t reach that goal. Would I have if I hadn’t broken my hip? Who knows?

But, just by reaching for the moon, (in this case, the Olympics) It got me out of my home town in the Midwest to California where I was exposed to a whole new world that I wouldn’t have seen. And I saw the shoot for the moon principle in action.

While in California, I worked for a company that sold high dollar sheepskin seat covers. One custom made cover cost about $360 dollars. This was back in the mid-1980s. very rarely did the people get covers for the back seat. They were even more expensive, and the car owners didn’t sit back there anyway.

When talking to customers, I would point out that having a nice Rolls Royce with only part of the seats covered would be like having a great paint job, but no hubcaps. Or a fine Italian suit on, but not wearing a tie. Sure, the paint and the suit look good, but all the people would notice is the missing hubcap or tie. It just wasn’t complete and didn’t fit the image these people were trying to project.

With those stories, I sold a bunch of full sets of covers.

I made $1200 per month. So, one day the boss came in with our paychecks. His name was Douglas. When he gave me my check, he also handed me a $50 bill. I could have just said thanks and pocketed the extra fifty. But I knew how much money I was making for him so, I shot for the moon.

I said, “Douglas, is that really all I’m worth to you?”

He was a little caught off guard but then grinned and doubled my salary.

He could have easily fired me instead, but he didn’t. If I had never asked, I would have only had the fifty bucks. By asking, I got…

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