Mount Vernon High School

December 8, 2023 Do the Little Things Matter? If you’re a competitor, you’ve probably got some pretty big plans to do some pretty big things. For any of us who find ourselves pursuing something meaningful and significant, it can be easy to focus on the magnitude of our desired achievement, and in doing so to neglect, diminish, or even resent some of the little things that seem to get in our way. We’ve all got little things - menial tasks or remedial routines that, welcome or not, are an unavoidable part of our experience. If you’re here today committed to doing something big, it’s worth taking a minute to stop and consider this important question. In the midst of your meaningful pursuit, do the little things matter? If you’re really serious about earning the success you say you’re after, then the answer is yes. The little things matter. Champions set themselves apart in many ways, including in their approach to those menial tasks or remedial routines. They are committed to excellence, even in the little things. Champions see every opportunity - even the small ones - as a chance to compete and win, and they see the important part the little things play in any meaningful pursuit. Champions make the little things matter because they recognize that more often than not, it’s the process that determines the outcome. Everyone wants to achieve something big and important, but not everyone is committed to the harsh and rather inconvenient reality of what real achievement requires. The truth is, the best formula for building something big and impressive is to willfully and deliberately focus on laying one exceptional brick at a time. Champions have developed the ability to forget about the finished product, and instead to zoom in and give their full attention to the task that's right in front of them. Embracing the process means competing to win, right where your feet are, and trusting that a full commitment to the present moment will most effectively prepare you for success when your big moment arrives. Your ability to zoom in and value the little things is confirmation that you are in fact worthy of winning the big things. It's evidence that you're committed to maximizing each moment. Every athlete, for example, says they want to win a championship. But the best set themselves apart by drilling down into the details of that lofty goal. A championship season is a direct by-product of the games, the games a direct by-product of the practices, the practices a direct by-product of the drills, and the drills a direct by-product of the individual reps. That means, if you really want to win a championship, then the effort, focus, and discipline you bring to each individual rep - including this one! - is really important. In the context of an entire season, one rep at one practice can be easy to trivialize. It can certainly be considered a little thing. But the champion athlete recognizes that the little things matter, because they are directly connected to the big things they want to accomplish. If you compete to the best of your ability in every rep, in every drill, every single day at practice, does it guarantee you the outcome you want? Of course not. But if you’ve willfully and deliberately chosen to lay each and every one of those proverbial bricks with a commitment to excellence, how big and strong and impressive will what you're building eventually become? On the other hand, if you’ve allowed yourself to trivialize that detail work you foolishly convinced yourself didn’t matter, how sloppy and unstable might your finished product be? Don't allow yourself to diminish the details. The other reason the little things matter is because, as the Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while. You don’t do things right once in a while. You do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” Lombardi’s words validate that a real commitment to winning isn’t circumstantial. It doesn’t matter how menial the task or how remedial the routine. It doesn’t matter who sees or celebrates your winning performance, or how others choose to approach the work. If you're a champion, you’ve chosen to give whatever’s in front of you the effort, the focus, and the discipline it deserves. Why? Because a winner is who you are, and because winning - even in the little things - is just what you do. -Travis