If you are going to achieve excellence in big things you develop the habit in little matters.
Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.
Colin Powell
Little things matter. They matter a lot more than the big things because off their sheer volume. Every day a million little things call out to us and demand our attention. It is in handling those little things, when no-one sees, that no-one will notice if it goes undone, that shapes who we are and the level of success we can reach.
It has always been the little things. Successful people get to work and get at the little things. They try hard too eliminate work that doesn’t need to get done, and to make other work easier in the future. They wake up with a spirit of service and determination. They don’t ask what do I want to do today, but rather, what is life demanding of me? The question you ask yourself in the morning is important. Getting at the multitude of insignificant little things is very important. As a matter of fact it is the only thing we should really focus on.
Be on time. Open doors for people. Say please and thank you. Clean up after yourself. Don’t waste anything. Replace whatever you used, so that the other person isn’t caught off guard without a stitch of toiler paper when they need it. Give whatever it is you’re doing, your undivided attention. Make the person you’re in conversation with the most important person on the face of the earth. Be kind to yourself. Don’t gossip. Smile. When asked, say you’re feeling fantastic, which may not be the truth, but something you’re working towards.
Say no to people that use you or waste your time. Say not to projects that distract you from being and doing what you dream of being and doing. Finish what you start. Always finish what you start.
If you start doing the little things. If you start answering the little demands life offers you each and every day, pretty soon everyone will notice your excellence. They will notice how great you are everyday. They will be surprised how much you are able to do and with what precision. They will be amazed because they have not discovered the power of doing little things well.
Being great is an attitude. Either you want something and obsessively go out and try to achieve it, or you’re just a spectator. A casual dreamer whose life moves with the weather patterns, and that has never produced any noticeable results.
You need to dream big. You need to have goals that you’ll never reach. Not stupid ones, but I bet the ones you have are not as big as they deserve to be. Find those dreams. See them. Touch them. Embrace them, and then set out each and ever day to do the little things well. Attend to the little matters of your life. Don’t get discouraged by them. Don’t get overwhelmed. There is a time and place for everything.
Don’t focus on how am I ever going to get this done, but instead begin to wonder, what insignificant thing can I do today, so that I don’t have to do it tomorrow. In time you will come the end of your thousand mile journey, having reached where you wish to stand, one step at a time, having gotten there, with insignificant one tiny movements at a time.
