Doing your thing and not everything doesn’t limit you in anyway.  In fact, it expands your ability to have a big impact if you do your thing in a great way.

There is a limit on how much time and effort you can invest on any one task.  Each person has necessities that must be done to survive – eat, sleep, shelter – and there are those activities that should be accomplished to revive – exercise, learn, relationships – next are those things that if done exceptionally well will cause you to thrive – endless possibilities.

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi

With the limited time available for those things that are in the thriving category you need to choose wisely.  Which ones will have the biggest impact?  Which ones am I sure to complete? Don’t do four things half way, do one thing all the way.  Focus your energy on completing the small steps needed to have the big impact.

Do the small things well, they will add up to big things.  John Wooden was the head basketball coach for UCLA for twelve years.  Nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood,” winning ten NCAA national championships and seven in a row during his tenure.  This big accomplishment happened because Wooden focused his players on doing the small things well.  He is quoted as saying “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”

Each freshman player first learned how to put on their socks and shoes properly.  There was a technique that involved pulling up the socks so there were no flaps in their shoes that could cause blisters, and tying their laces tight so there were no sprained ankles.  NBA great Bill Walton played under John Wooden and said he was shocked when he first heard the lesson on socks and shoes.  He also said that this initial lesson described, “Everything they would need to know for the rest of their lives.”

Then every year each player, regardless of their experience, received a copy of Walton’s “Pyramid of Success,” in which he lays out the steps for success.  These include developing abilities such as Loyalty, Self-Control, Skill, Confidence among the fifteen steps. The top of the pyramid Competitive Greatness, and is described at, “Perform at your best when your best is required.  Your best is required each day.”

If you want to have a big impact, do your thing in a great way.