I’m a huge believer in not sweating the small stuff.  Not sweating the small stuff means not blowing up all the little things that happen in your life into something more than they are.  It means moving past the drama of the small stuff and into a higher plane of peaceful well-being.  The small stuff happens every hour of every day.

However, the other side of that is the incredible power of small things.  The compounding power of a series of small steps can create something very big.  You don’t run a 26 mile marathon, you take 9,000 small individual steps.  Small acts of kindness can make a big difference someone else’s day.  Small details that nobody else notices or thinks of can separate you from the rest of the pack.  You can be extraordinary by doing small things.

“I am done with great things and big things, great institutions and big success, and I am for those tiny, invisible molecular moral forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which if you give them time, will rend the hardest monuments of man’s pride.” –William James

Is there a place for bold action, dramatic change, and big hairy audacious goals?  Certainly.  But there is only so much room for those.  Don’t forget the power of the small things you can do all day every day.

“Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things” – Frank A. Clark

Small Acts of Big Kindness

In the article I wrote on making a difference I talked about small acts of kindness.  Imagine a few small acts of kindness done every day of your life, each one making a difference to someone else.  What a legacy you would leave and it would cost you nothing!  In fact, it would benefit you immeasurably.

One kind compliment to a frazzled sales clerk, one small sentence of encouragement to a colleague, or one small act of helping a neighbor or a complete stranger.  In small acts of kindness, you see the incredible power of small things.

“I can live for two months on a good compliment.” — Mark Twain

Make Small Impressions

Are you always trying to make a big impression on someone?  That’s difficult, stressful, and often unsuccessful.  How about making easy and small impressions every day?  They will compound into big life-changing impressions over time.  Be patient, the power of small will win out in the end.

Taking Small Steps To Habit Change

I’ve previously written on changing habits gradually.  I made a massive change in my diet by very gradual steps over a period of months.  I felt no pain because the change from one week to the next was so small I could barely tell the difference.  I’ve started exercising and I started small.  I went on daily walks for months before I ever lifted a weight or went for a run.  When I started lifting and running I started very small.

“The Power of Gradual works because, quite simply, little things add up to a big thing if you have enough little things. Given enough time, the steady drip-drop of water becomes an ocean. Given enough time, small regular deposits become a small fortune. Given enough time, steady work at my awful first drafts yields a passable final draft.”

The Power of Gradual by Ian Newby-Clark (Habit Guy) of My Bad Habits.

Take a small step, and then take another, and then another.  Just keep on walking.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Tagged as: power, small acts of kindness, small stuff, success