Day #89 in A Year of Positivity

“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” – Napoleon Hill

Ciao, darlings, and welcome to Day #89 in A Year of Positivity! I hope this message finds you all well and in good health! Today’s quote is brought to you by Napoleon Hill, “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”

I believe that everyone can do great things, though I also believe great things don’t always come at once. Some people can do great things in one of those overnight-sensation type of ways, but most of the time it takes doing small things in a great way to get things rolling into a snowball effect.

The best way to go about turning small things into something great is ensuring your habits are in alignment for the great things you see for yourself. If you wish to become a great athlete, you simply can’t decide this one day, and be the best in your chosen field of athleticism in the next day. You’d first need to start exercising and adopt all the good habits that will keep you in great shape. Then, you know how the phrase goes, “Practice makes perfect,” right? So learn the skills needed, and practice, practice, practice. Before you know it, you will have mastered the habits and skills required of your athletic career. Or maybe you just want to tone your body and get in shape. This is another example of starting small and slow with the exercises before diving in deep with the heavier and longer stuff (i.e. running for three to five minutes per session, and gradually lengthening this time to a five-mile run through weeks and months of slowly increasing your time in a run).

If you wish to take better care of yourself, you might do the small healthy habits of replacing 15+ minutes of scrolling social media with a 15+ minute power walk a day, or replacing sugary drinks with water and/or calorie-free flavored Mios. Even making up your bed first thing in the morning and putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher right after you’ve used them helps to minimize stress, increase mindfulness, boost immune systems, and they also encourage cleanliness, organization, and productivity. Maybe you’re drowning in debt, and if you want to get out of it, you can start by organizing amount owed from smallest to largest, cut out the “luxuries,” and focus on paying off the smaller bills first.

Of course, these are all vastly different types of “small” things done in great ways, and how they change things in the long run, or how they open our paths to greater things waiting for us down the road. If you are someone who has the ability to just up and do something great in a flash, that’s really awesome. However, if you’re someone who can’t, don’t stress about it! As I said at the start, I believe everyone can do great things. You just may need a different approach, is all. So, try doing small things in a great way, and remember that practice makes perfect, and before you know it, you’ll have mastered your new habits and skills. Whatever you do, I hope you do it with confidence that you’ve got this, because I know you do!