It’s The Little Things That Matter
Little things. Someone writing a note to say thank you, a fridge filled with healthy drinks for the office, lunch on me. While we’ve all heard the saying, “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back”. But we rarely think about reversing the comment. “It was the extra pat that inspired another mile.” Okay, camel analogies are hard to work with, but you get the idea.
The Little Things
It’s so often the little things that support and boost the hard stuff in life. And we all know there’s plenty of hard stuff. What can we do as individuals and businesses that will lay foundational pieces to make the hard stuff easier to bear?
Last night I spoke with a widow who travels an hour and a half to work in another city. She said she could move, but the support she has here to help with her three girls would be nearly impossible to leave. It’s the little things – someone who carpools and takes one small part of your load and helps you bear up under the weight of parenting alone.
A client wrote, “Thanks for all that you are doing to raise awareness of the biases we all have, and for equipping and encouraging us to be instruments of change”. That one small gesture was the affirmation I needed today to keep going in work that is hard.
There are lots of things we can do as individuals to give a boost to others, even in the corporate world. This week, a session participant walked me into a room and showed me the healthy drinks and the healthy snacks his company provided to all employees.
He said, “And, here’s the best thing about working here”. Now it’s probably not the best thing – we know that – but it’s the symbol of what makes it a great place to work. The organization’s administration believed that encouraging healthy habits started with making healthy choices available to their team. It was a little thing that is making a big difference.
What Can You Do?
What are the little things you can do this week? Imagine if all of us did one little thing to encourage someone else in the coming week? What would the world look like? When I imagine what that would look like, the sunshine is a little brighter. There are more smiles and laughter. There’s rainbows, and just maybe, a camel with a little lighter step.
Go do something little for someone, and share your stories with me, I’d love to hear from you!
Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.
