Don’t Major In Minor Things

1. Don’t major in minor things.

How many people do you know who have a Bachelors degree in minor things? It’s no wonder people claim they don’t have enough time these days. What a waste to spend a large amount of time or energy on something that doesn’t warrant it. Just think about how silly that even sounds. By spending an inordinate amount of time and energy on something that doesn’t need it, you are depriving time for the major things that need that effort. In addition, by spending so much effort on minor things, it makes the major things just look that much more major. When you practice this Tool, it is one that is easy and comes on fast. Pretty soon you will take a quick pause before a problem occurs and figure out what category it belongs in, thus allowing more time for bigger/major challenges which in turn don’t seem as major and are resolved more quickly due to freed up time to tackle them.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff, is a great book by Richard Hyperion. Okay, maybe it’s not ALL small stuff, but think about all the small things we make such a big deal over. When I first heard this, I discovered that when you start making a big deal out of little things, you start making a big deal about everything. Another problem with making a big deal out of everything: others don’t know what is a big deal or what isn’t. When I started using this Tool, a couple of interesting things happened. First, I was able to separate the important from the not so important. Second, when I did call my shot about something important, others knew it was something important, because I didn’t make a big deal of EVERYTHING and what I got in turn were people helping me respond to the things that were IMPORTANT and needed to be addressed.