“Somtimes we need to sweat the small stuff.”
Anonymous
Everyday we make several seemingly inconsequential and insignificant decisions in our lives with our time. And though these decisions seem unimportant at the time, they quickly add up and can have a huge impact. In fact, I cannot stress enough how much the little things in our life matter. The little decisions we make each day affect our lives and those around us much more than the seemingly big decisions. Little things do matter, and they matter the most!
Recently I viewed this short motivational movie called 212 The Extra Degree. At 211 degrees water is hot but with just one added degree, it boils producing steam. The message is powerful and speaks to a way to achieve results “beyond our wildest dreams”–and that way is through doing the little things and making a little extra effort each day. With boiling water, one seemingly insignificant degree makes all the difference, and so it is true also in our lives. The little things we do each day can and will make all the difference.
To illustrate the point that little things do matter we can look to Olympic sports. For example, the Men’s 800 meter race was won by the narrow margin of .21 seconds, the Men’s Giant Slalom gold medalist was won by mearly .17 seconds, and the Women’s 1000 meter Speed Skating race was won by only .07 seconds. Hence, tenths of a second often make all the difference in determining Olympic medal winners.
To apply this in our lives, what are the little things we can do that can have a big impact on who we are and in turn help us be better leaders each day? Well, for example, if we decide to wake up 5 minutes earlier each day and spend that time pondering and meditating about life, our direction and goals, and what truly matters most, we will add over an extra 30 hours of pondering and meditating to our lives a year. Another example, if we cut 10 minutes off of our lunch break each day at work and spend that time getting to know, motivating, and developing our staff and co-workers, that will translate into over 43 extra hours a year in employee development. Likewise, if we cut just 15 minutes of surfing the Internet out of our lives each day and use that time toward achieving our goals and being better leaders, that will result in over 91 extra hours a year. And finally, if we eliminate 30 minutes of TV each day and spend it with the most important people in our lives, our family, it will add up to more than an extra 182 hours a year! Are you starting to see how making small adjustment can have a huge impact!!
Often in life we are fooled by the idea that small things don’t really matter too much but they do!! As we focus on the small things, we will begin to see big strides in our success in life. Think about it, what little things can you do today that can have a big impact? Adding that extra degree of effort and focus will make all the difference!