Many people complain about doing the small things. Practice. Dressing well. Eating clean. Going to the gym. Reading daily. Flossing. Ultimately, it’s because the little things in the moment feel like chores. It’s true, no one thing, or the absence of that one thing, will matter. No one thing will be the difference between closing a deal, bringing home the troops, or winning a championship…but when you add all the little things up, it’s easy to see why success occurs.
Habits are powerful indicators of success, because of the mindset required to adopt and execute on those habits. They require a disciplined approach. An extra 14 seconds before leaving your home because you have to take out the garbage, getting off the chair one more time even after you’ve settled in, taking a detour on the way home even when you’re starving and didn’t have lunch that day. It’s the relentless, no excuses, attitude that people observe when they come across you in your day-to-day behavior that stays with them. Helps tell the story of who you are. More importantly, it shapes the self image that you hold in your mind, that matters most. Are we the type of person that finds an excuse to complete a menial task, or is every task important because we decided, when setting our goals, that these daily tasks were important. We decided that only after the tasks were satisfied, were we allowed to do what we desire. That subtlety speaks volumes in the aggregate.
In life, I’ve noticed, as one of my favorite quotes proudly declares, “How you do anything, is how you do everything.” It’s so simple but I find it to be true. Holding yourself to a standard is presently underrated. Some people may even laugh at the notion of doing things that don’t matter, in isolation. However, when you reflect back on successfully meeting goals, it’s that very repetitive behavior that is so hard to ignore. We can’t attribute our success to any one thing without that action, not a single instance of behavior but the continuous habit.
Pay attention to your habits. Pay attention to what you do when no one is watching. Act as if daily optics matter and one day they actually will.