We are all rushed and crunched for time in our world today;
therefore, anything you choose to do should be done with
your best effort or not at all. With so many
responsibilities and opportunities before each of us daily,
there is no time nor reason to be mediocre at anything.

Everyone understands the urgency of performing well in the
tasks they consider to be “big things,” but they too often
overlook matters they consider to be “little things.”

If you really analyze the areas of your life, either
personally or professionally, that you consider to be “big
things,” you will find, if you look closely enough, that
they are nothing more than a series or group of “little
things.”

You may run the best, most efficient business operation ever
known to mankind, but if your people don’t answer the phone
politely and professionally, or if they don’t invest the
time and energy to simply get people’s names right, you are
wasting your time.

Our most precious possession is our name. One of the
elements that distinguishes world class service from
standard service–whether it be business, dining, hotel,
transportation, etc.–is that the world class professionals
greet you politely, energetically, and use your name
correctly.

There is a certain group of business “experts” who believes
that in order to be successful we must practice
intimidation. While I disagree with this philosophy, there
is an amazing learning opportunity for us all within these
intimidation theories.

These adversarial intimidators would tell you that the best
way to “put someone down” or try to establish your own
superiority is simply to mispronounce or misuse their name.

The most amazing, thoughtful, meaningful, and significant
message can be diminished by a simple typographical error.
No matter how profound the words on the page may be, if they
contain sloppy errors, you may as well stamp the words in
bright red across the top of the page: “I really don’t care
very much about this.”

You’ve heard it said countless times, but it is as true
today as the first time you heard it. People don’t care how
much you know until they know how much you care. If you want
to show people how much you care, pay attention to the
little things, and you will find the big things take care of
themselves.

As you go through your day today, do everything as if it
alone will make the difference between success and failure.
You will find that it does.

Today’s the day!

by Jim Stovall