It was an 8th grade football practice, and the coach was known for yelling. Okay, not yelling, just “being loud to get his point across.” He also happened to be my dad.

“What wins ball games???”

Clueless or dumb or afraid of the former college noseguard, us under-200-pound kids had no answer that was going to be right enough.

“IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS!” he belted.

Some call it attention to detail. Others would differ that it’s attaining as close to perfection as you can.  Maybe you’d call it doing the little things right. Discipline. Say what you will, small wins are the key to the big win, whether in sports or in life.

Even in our everyday lives, no matter you’re a teacher, a business man, a designer, a doctor, whatever, an attention to detail creates a situation where all the little things add up into a big thing. Big problems are made up of little confrontations that you must choose to win, or to let pass and lose. Sometimes we want to let a little bump in the road pass, that we’re tired and just want to skip it and move forward.

When we reach that point, it is then that we have lost sight of our goals, our aspirations, the sum of all those little things adding up. When you hit that bump in the road, recall the goals you’ve set (based on what motivates you, but that’s probably another post) to get you over that hump. Continuously revisit those goals for motivation to do the little things right.

Remember the next time you have a little nagging task keeping you from making the day your own that accomplishing it will eventually add up to a victory.