Today’s post comes from Shawn Anderson,ShawnAnderson.com, five-time author, corporate trainer and national speaker on the topics of “possibility thinking and creating opportunity.” 

“Extra Mile Day” is November 1…a day to acknowledge the capacity we each have to create positive change in our families, organizations, communities and world.

In 2009, there were 23 mayors who officially made the “Extra Mile Day” declaration for their city. Last year, there were 116 “Extra Mile Day” cities. And 2011, there are 227 mayors on board for “Extra Mile Day.”

On the surface, the growth looks impressive. But let me tell you, getting to the point where 227 mayors have joined the “Go the Extra Mile” mission hasn’t always been a pretty picture. One of my all-time favorite radio series was Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story. He would share a story of which we might have been familiar with on the surface. At the end, he would tell a surprise about something involving the story we didn’t know and finish with his famous line, “And now you know…the rest of the story.”

Let me share with you The Rest of the Story behind the “Go the Extra Mile” movement in order to cast a ray of light on any dark moments or days you or your organization may be experiencing. Bluntly speaking, we had no “mojo” three years ago when I started the first Extra Mile America Tour…and at times, things were pretty ugly. Here were a few of the “challenges”:

1. I thought we would raise $50K in sponsorships to help pay for the 2009 Extra Mile America Tour. (The tour was a 4,000 mile solo bicycle ride from San Francisco to Boston visiting 21 cities and interviewing 200 people who had been identified as having gone the “extra mile” in life.)  Instead of raising a single penny, we had a support van full of 500 Cliff Bars and 3,000 packets of Jelly Bellies to remind me of my financial sponsorship failure.

2. At midnight on day 2 of the 90-day cross-country bike tour in Oakland, my road manager (the only person I had with me and who was responsible for driving a van to follow me as I pedaled) called my hotel room and stated without care, “This isn’t for me. I quit.” (Forget the fact that this person had been paid in advance for working the next 45 days.) At that moment, with two days to pedal my bike to Sacramento to get to a press conference with Mayor Johnson and no one to drive the van…I felt very defeated.

3. Immediately after my road manager quit, I put out a number of high stress “What do I do now?” phone calls to people who had been supporting me. The #1 answer: “Cancel the tour.” Not a comment conducive to continuing.

4. I crashed on my bike three times during the 90-day ride…including a nasty tumble outside Omaha, Nebraska, where a car had to swerve to avoid hitting me while I was laying on the pavement. The fall earned me a trip to urgent care. But I kept going.

5. I pedaled and sweated through hundreds of miles of 100+ degree deserts, had pig and cow excrement spill on me every time a feed truck passed me in the farm states, and had to peddle through harsh rain and snow storms at the end of my 4,000 mile ride.

But by hanging in there…and by symbolizing what it truly means to “go the extra mile”…the momentum built. The media came. The people jumped on board. Things took off. Shortly thereafter, the Extra Mile America Foundation, a 501c3, was created. And “Extra Mile Day” took off.

That’s my “The Rest of the Story.”

FACT ALERT! Big goals rarely go exactly as we outline them. There will be twist-and-turn detours. There will be 11,312 foot mountains to climb. There will be brutal rainstorms and nasty crashes that make you want to cry. BUT if you let any of those things stop you…YOUR “The rest of the Story” will never be heard.

1. Lost your job or your funding? Stay motivated and give every day your best search. It WILL come.

2. Told you aren’t good enough? What do critics know…except how to be negative.

3. Wish you had gone a different career route? Start fresh. Who cares how old you are?

4. Receive terrible health news? Then do everything in your positive power to change directions.

5. Lose your home? Your life is not over. Rebuild something better.

6. Lose a loved one? Get back up and do something that gives honor to the person you lost.

We each have our own trials most certainly…but all that means is that THIS is the time to write your “The Rest of the Story.”  Let’s cast aside worries, fears, failures…and all the rest of the stinking thinking garbage that litters our brains. Let’s really choose to live the life we want…the life that we will love. Let’s not allow our stories to end without a great finish.

Big dreams…big comebacks…big adventures…almost always are destined for a big initial setback. Accept it.  And then…keep creating. Keep building. Keep serving. Keep dreaming. Keep giving. And keep “going the extra mile.”

If you do…and I do…we never know what cool moments, experiences or adventures might eventually be created. For ourselves. For our organization. For our community. And for our world.

Do you know someone in your community that goes the extra mile? Lets celebrate them together! Tell us about them in the comments!

Shawn Anderson is the the Founder of the Extra Mile America Foundation, a non-profit organization empowering people to “go the extra mile” in life.  In 2011, the Foundation will lead the charge in motivating 200 mayors in all 50 states to declare November 1 as “Extra Mile Day”…a day to recognize those in the local community going the extra mile.