The Importance of Small Things

Does the smallness of the step or the bit of work you feel capable of or the insignificance of the recipient keep you from doing?

It does for me.

I dream of doing big things. Award-winning, game-changing, havoc-wrecking things. I want to start the biggest charity. I want to run a billion-dollar company. I want to be the biggest, the greatest, the shiniest, the most important.

• I don’t want to be a role player. I want to be Lebron James.
• I don’t want to develop a website. I want to start the new Facebook. (Like we need that.)
• I don’t want to write a book. I want to write a New York Times Bestseller. Three years running.

As I stare and gaze at all of the big things of this world, I loose sight of what really matters. I lose sight of the small things.

photo by Ed Yourdon

It Doesn’t Seem to Matter

When we do small things, they are so miniscule, it hardly seems to make any difference at all.

Does my small monthly donation to Half the Sky Foundation really matter? It barely helps one child, much less make any real dent in how much is needed to done.

Does exercising for only 30 minutes today really help  me? I barely break a sweat. How could it matter?

Does choosing to smile, in spite of what I feel inside, help anyone at all?

Does recycling my water bottle really make any kind of difference in the environment? It is only one bottle.

Does choosing to love really matter? Will anyone feel it? Will anyone care?

Does any of this make a difference?

Adding Up

The crazy thing about doing the small things every day is that it all adds up.

I’m sure you’ve heard of compounded interest. Put $100 a month into an account that compounds monthly. Average a 6% return. Do it every month for 30 years. Guess how much money you will have in that account.

$100,953.76

Average a 10% return and the sum goes up to $227,932.53

Although the percent return is out of your hands. What you can do is choose to do the $100 a month.

What matters more than money, though, are the small things we can do for people.

It Does Matter

Don’t just do the small things expecting that some day it will add up to so much that someone will finally notice. Maybe they will. Maybe they won’t.

Chances are, nobody will ever notice all of your small things. You will never be featured on 60 minutes. You will never be the Person of the Year. You will not win a Grammy or an Emmy or an Oscar.

Getting noticed doesn’t matter. What does matter is the person at the other end of the small things you choose to do.

It matter for you. It matters for us. It matters for the few people who benefit from the good things you do.

Every single little thing you can do today matters. It is worth it.

Have you ever experienced the importance of small things?

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