Little Things Add Up

The little things add up. There’s two different ways we look at life’s little things - we either completely ignore them or give them due attention and listen. This response is both applicable to the annoying things of life as well as the little joys we experience.

Most common advice will tell you to ignore the little things and focus on the big things - either pursue the good or resist the bad. While it’s important to not sweat the small mistakes in life that can cause extra stress (e.g. having your hair look messy, spilling something on your shirt, stuttering during a speech, etc) – it is, however, important to pay attention to the reoccurring little daily things that need to be addressed.

Little things become capable of an enormous amount of strength when there is a build-up. This applies both to the physical world as well as the intangible challenges we go through that test our patience. Mental stress eventually can leave us feeling completely overwhelmed and clueless to how it become so strong, simply because the little things were not being addressed properly.

No one can read our minds. Being passive aggressive makes everything more difficult and complicated than it has to be. Lacking assertion shows us that confidence needs to be developed. When we feel confident about ourselves, we feel more comfortable asserting our opinion, even when it may lead to uncomfortable discussions. There’s nothing wrong with uncomfortable discussions as long as respect is present.

Positive little things can be doing acts of kindness, complimenting, taking care of ourselves, exercising, eating well, removing bad habits, and keeping a positive mind. These habits may seem fairly simple, straightforward, and easy to maintain - but they usually aren’t because consistency can be hard to maintain. However, if we develop in one of these areas, we can start to see other areas begin to improve more easily. Consistent change, even in one small area, can lead to a better chance of further positive changes elsewhere.

You’ve likely heard of 30-day challenges. These are challenges in which we can try something new within 30 days to change our lives. This takes away the pressure of maintaining a habit for a lifetime, but still allows us to see the benefits to be had after just 1 month. This is a smart way to try something new. Sometimes when we get too ambitious, we do too much at once and it backfires. 30-day challenges are bearable enough when the going gets pretty tough. Only after we go through those tough times is when we realize that they are temporary and often shorter than expected.

Life is a progress, not a race. Learning to develop one life habit at a time can lead us to lasting change. Celebrities, fitness models, and motivational speakers can appear perfect on the outside. Maybe it’s real; maybe it’s fake. However, many successful people have gotten where they are because of consistent hard work that didn’t bring results just overnight. Little steps can lead us to be bigger people.

For further related reading, please check out: Getting What You Want.