Isn’t it usually the little things?

Spelling a person’s name right.  Remembering a significant date.  Following up on what you said you would do.  A timely note.  Listening for what is not being said.

In baseball, being passionate about the sport as a result of a son playing, is about the little things.  One missed ball.  Not tagging up.  A throw that is off by 4 inches is missed.  A hit that is barely in, or barely out.  After a close win, or loss in baseball, one can go back over the little things and determine that they were HUGE contributors to the outcome.

In my role within development, raising funds, we call the little things “KPI’s.”  Key Performance Indicators are in fact… the little things.  Did you make the call?  Did you follow the connection made all the way through?  What is the next step?  What information does this person need to continue the discussion?

Did you know that in the ministry I work with we have had two generous people in relationship with us that we “lost contact with.”  These same two families, after being dormant to the mission of Young Life for nearly a decade both made 9 figure gifts to other non-profits – gifts of over $100,000,000!  You know what I say to that?  It’s the little things.

In my role one of the most important things I do is to keep people on task to do the little things.  Another way to put it at times – do the hard things.  Why do younger baseball players have the ball go through their legs at times?  They didn’t get their glove all the way down in the dirt… is that the little thing or the hard thing?   I say both!

How about you … what are your “little things?”  (Hard things.)  What are the items on your “to do” list that consistently seem to roll from one to the next?  I will have a day at times that is filled with just the “little things.”  It feels good to get the glove all the way to the dirt, and snag the ball!

You know what a bunch of little things added together get you?  In baseball it gets you runs, or a win, or progress.  In life, it is sheer accomplishment.  Little things bunch together is a lot DONE.  Bless you today as you reflect on what they are… and then you make them happen!