54 pages • 1 hour read
Ed MylettThe Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 8-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapters 8 Summary: “One More Question to Ask Ourselves”
Chapter 8 encourages readers to practice self-awareness. One more thinkers know that asking better questions leads to better answers about life. Finding “One More powerful questions to ask yourself several times a day” is key to enhancing your life (105).
Mylett provides 41 questions that readers can use to improve their lives. Some of these include:
1. What one more thing can I do to show my spouse or my partner I love them?
2. How can I do one more thing to improve my relationship with my children?
3. Is there one more thing I can do to make my family feel more special?
4. Is there one more thing I can do to show my appreciation to the people I work with?
5. What's one more way I can adjust my thinking so I make fewer excuses? (106-09).
The point for these questions is that their answers may make the reader uncomfortable. The difficulty of addressing these questions makes them worthwhile.
Chapter 9 Summary: “One More Goal”
Chapter 9 addresses the process of achievement. In the one more mindset, “goals are energy. Goals are a life force. Goals are a state of being” (112). The first step to creating actionable goals is to establish standards. Standards determine what you’re willing to tolerate, and goals become the byproducts and results of standards.
The first step to establishing standards for goal setting is to understand that everyone’s personal life necessitates unique strategies. Goal setting needs to be individualized for specific personalities. One more thinkers utilize efficient and proven methods of goal setting to ensure repeated success.
The second step is to create goals while in a peak state. A peak state “occurs when your mind and body are functioning optimally together” (114-15). By attuning the conscious mind and physical body to higher levels of performance, the subconscious mind follows suit.
The third step is to identify goals that have compelling reasons. When you wholeheartedly believe in the purpose of your goals, you let the goals challenge and improve without concern for personal discomfort. Goals must also be specific to catalyze motivation and enthusiasm. Mylett also recommends that readers keep their goal-setting strategies simple. Focus on building momentum and accomplishing the desired outcomes.
The fourth step is to increase self-worth. This is accomplished by increasing faith in oneself and reaffirming one’s goals and identity. Both processes can be accomplished by increasing self-awareness. Ask whether you are approaching your goals from a place of self-confidence or a place of fear. Then, Mylett proposes that readers work to get themselves in peak mental and physical condition. Soon, this activity becomes a habit, and The One More Mindset becomes natural.
Lastly, goals need to be set and accomplished constantly: “To design your goals instead of responding to circumstances in your life, create goals hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and even three and five years out” (121). Transition between short-term, momentum-building goals and long-term, life-altering goals. Mylett comes up with a one-word strategy for each goal. Once the word is assigned to the goal, he embodies its meaning by acting it out, saying it out loud, writing it down, and repeating it. These ideas need to be specific and goal oriented to maintain focus and accountability.
Chapters 8-9 Analysis
Throughout Chapter 8, Mylett emphasizes the self-reflective aspects of The One More Mindset. For instance, he starts the chapter by asking, “Do you ever think about what you think about?” (103). According to Mylett, the act of questioning can reveal the truth about your actions and your existence. This is one of the first moments where Mylett refers to The Power of Faith to Accomplish More. In his 41 questions provided for readers, Mylett asks in #40, “What’s one more prayer I need to have or scripture I need to hold closer in my faith life?” and #41, “Is there one more way I can thank and honor my God for the gifts I received today?” (109). To be a one more thinker means asking difficult questions and trusting in your faith, whatever religious beliefs you may practice. For Mylett, religion and faith are prerequisites for success in the one more mindset.
Like Mylett’s other prompts, the 41 questions are a springboard to action. Here, Mylett synthesizes the theoretical and practical aspects of the one more mindset. This combination of theory and practice continues in Chapter 9’s discussion of goals. Goal setting is as much about thinking about goals as it is about accomplishing them. Mylett’s first step in accomplishing goals is setting high standards that demand effort and elite performance from the individual. Goal setting should also be reflected upon and personalized for your specific needs. Then, you should create a peak state to accomplish goals, identify reasons for those goals, and increase your self-worth. These are all cognitive and theoretical activities in service of the physical act of accomplishing goals frequently.
Mylett maintains his authorial persona as a motivational speaker in this section. The audience is not only inspired but also challenged. This tone comes through in sentences like “I told you goals are a form of energy. Now you know what fuels that energy” when explaining the power of creating goals in a peak state (120). Likewise, Mylett uses the first and second person to convey his authority, personalize his message, and relate to the audience.
At the end of Chapter 9, Mylett briefly mentions the section’s relation to Achieving Goals With Neuroscience and Quantum Mechanics. “Repetition,” he writes, “also engages the reticular activating system, or RAS” (124). By referring to the RAS definition from Chapter 2, Mylett thematically connects this chapter to earlier ones. The reference to neuroscientific research is intended to bolster his claim’s authority, but once more, Mylett avoids citing research that could make this claim stronger. This is because the book’s focus is emotionally inspiring readers without potentially alienating or intimidating readers with scientific discussions. Mylett’s target audience is the average individual, whom he claims to represent.
