Sitting at a traffic light, I flipped through my phone searching for a podcast to listen to as I drove into work with my surfboard strapped to the roof. I was looking for something with a positive message to catch a break from the news.
I saw motivational speaker Ed Mylett's podcast and clicked the most recent episode. The topic was "The Power of One More," which is the main theme of Mylett's motivational talks and the topic of his book, which I had also read.
Although I had heard the message before, and didn't think that I would learn anything new from it, it was still a positive message to listen to before stepping into the office, so I hit Play. Mylett's strong and calm voice came through the car speakers.
As I listened, I leaned over the passenger seat, craning my neck to catch a glimpse of the surf as I drove along the pacific coast on Highway 1. The waves rolling in looked to be about three feet, peaking, breaking, and peeling both left and right.
On the podcast, Mylett's message was simple: always do one more than what's required, or what you said you were going to do. That one rep of extra work will make all of the difference in your life.
Sure, I thought, that works with things that can be measured, but my to-do list for the day consisted of building strategies, not making sales calls. This message was not the guidance that I could apply today, but I continued to listen. One more attempt, one more rep...that's what will make you successful. The theme stuck in the back of my mind throughout the workday, but I didn't directly apply it.
One more attempt, one more rep...that's what will make you successful
After work I drove to the beach and found that the surf still looked good, a classic southern California summer day with 73-degree water. Now that the kids were headed back to school and families had finished their vacations, there were far fewer surfers than had recently been in the water.
I unloaded my longboard surfboard and hit the beach, not having to deal with putting on a wetsuit in the warm ocean water. I walked down the beach until I found a peak with the fewest surfers and paddled out. The mix of southwest summer swell and wind swell served up soft and playful waves. The waves gave a push on the drop-in, while still being forgiving - the perfect match to the summer vibe.
The beach break waves broke and split both right and left, carrying surfers all the way to the beach. There were enough waves and space for everyone, which makes for a happy surfing experience.
I caught a handful of small right-hand waves, walking up to the nose of the surfboard and back, crouching down, throwing in cheater fives, everything else and the kitchen sink to shift my weight to the right spot of the surfboard to keep the ride going. All of the waves I rode were fun and I had a good time.
Sitting in the Pacific Ocean, I had a peak of waves to myself until a man in his fifties paddled out and sat right in line with me, between my surfboard and the beach. I looked back out to the horizon and saw a set of waves coming in. I laid down on my surfboard and paddled to the right to get closer to where the wave was breaking.
I looked back toward the beach and saw the man follow my move to stay in line. I stopped paddling and hesitated. When I turned back, I saw the wave coming in was about the break. Knowing the waves were soft that day, I decided to turn, paddle and drop in for a late takeoff, hoping the guy would move out of the way.
I paddled for two strokes and popped up on my surfboard to drop in. But it was too late. The wave behind me broke on my head, pushing me and the nose of my surfboard down the face of the wave, dragging me along to suck water as it broke and rolled through.
I couldn't remember the last time I had pearled on a wave! All of the mistimed pop-ups in my first years of learning how to surf came flashing back as I made it to the surface, coughing up ocean water.
I took a couple breaths and paddled back out past the breaking waves. The guy who had gotten in my way had caught the next wave in and was paddling back towards me. I laid back down on my board and paddled away, not wanting to have to reposition again to get around him when another set of waves came in.
A gust of wind picked up, turning the calm ocean surface into chop. The rough water made it more difficult to hold my position. Like riding a horse, I bounced around straddling my surfboard, letting the movement roll through me. After the ungraceful attempt at catching a wave around the surfer, drinking a large serving of saltwater and the surfing conditions deteriorating, I decided to call it a day.
Just as I was about to paddle closer to the inside to catch a small wave in, I thought of Ed Mylett's message of one more. If I left the water now, the story would be that I caught a few waves surfing before the conditions deteriorated and I left. If I sat and waited to see if the wind would calm down and the ocean water would smooth out, I could catch another good wave and end the surfing session on a positive note.
The minutes passed as I sat floating on my surfboard, feeling calm within myself. The view of the coastline from the water was stunning in the summer evening light through scattered clouds. I enjoyed the warm ocean water around me, grateful for not having to wear a wetsuit.
I was thankful for the gorgeous skies, as the puffy clouds overhead allowed rays of sunlight to pour through from the sun hiding behind them, sending beams of light from the heavens down to the ocean horizon.
I watched as the sun dropped below the clouds and the strong gusts of wind calmed to a gentle breeze. Out on the horizon, I saw a set of waves coming in. When they reached where I was sitting I let the first wave roll through, believing the wave behind it looked bigger. It was.
I turned, paddled, and dropped in going right, starting out the ride by drawing out a deep bottom turn. I turned and directed my board back to the face of the wave. With my foot on the tail of my surfboard, I engaged the fins just as I reached the lip, turning off of the top.
I repeated the maneuver, again, driving the rail of my surfboard into the water, gaining power off of a deep bottom turn and smacking it off of the top. The wave continued to stand up and I completed three turns, top-to-bottom of the wave before kicking out over the back. It was the best wave I had caught that day by far.
I felt invigorated as I paddled back out to the line-up to catch more waves, hoping for others just like that. I paddled out past the break and sat on my surfboard, wringing out water from my hair. That was my one more, I thought. Totally worth it. I stuck around and caught two more waves before catching one all the way into the shore.
When I was done loading my surfboard on the car, I checked the time and saw that it was later than I usually stayed out to surf. But after committing to one more and reaping the rewards of that perfect wave, I felt completely relaxed, fulfilled and blissful for it. For that I owed Ed Mylett and his theory of finding success in doing one more.
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