It’s The Little Things That Matter

I have a strange confession to make. It’s about something I do on a regular basis and I don’t know if anyone else does this.

My strange confession is that I tend to carry toilet paper (my go-to is the Charmin Ultra Soft) with me whenever I go someplace (Anyone else do this?!?). I do this because the toilet paper placed in the restrooms at restaurants, retail stores, and other places typically is low quality.

They use 1-ply or toilet paper that feels like sandpaper. I can’t stand it. Thus, I bring my own.

Hand holding toilet paper. More roles in the background

Photo by Erik McLean

But I’ve discovered a problem. I don’t always remove the unused toilet paper from my pockets before they go into the wash. This causes a huge issue.

The toilet paper disintegrates in the wash. It then seeps out of the pocket and gets stuck on everything in the washing machine.

This causes a mess.

It sometimes results in us having to rewash the clothes that were just washed. Other times it results in us leaving the house and not noticing the tiny pieces of toilet paper stuck to our clothes.

It’s frustrating and something that’s easily preventable. It’s also an issue caused by something small.

In our lives, we all have these toilet paper moments.

It’s The Little Things That Matter

We forget about the little things in our lives while trying to focus on the big things in our lives.

Have you ever:

  • Tried to clean up your email inbox but failed to unsubscribe from the newsletters and emails you no longer read?
  • Reseed your whole lawn with new grass but failed to water the new seeds?
  • Restructure an entire department but left the one person who was causing major issues?

These are the types of things we do in our lives that are our toilet paper moments. We aim for big and glorious things that will change our lives, our yards, and our organizations. We make a big move but we don’t get to the heart of the problem.

You cannot make great progress without focusing on the little things in your life. The little things are the things that take you off course or won’t let the new grass grow.

Imagine taking a trip. You plan to go from Michigan to Flagstaff, Arizona. You get the directions. You have the big picture. Then you decide you don’t need to follow them exactly.

Instead of following the driving directions, you choose to go off-course. You choose to go 1 degree north for every mile you drive.

The trip from Michigan to Flagstaff, Arizona is approximately 1,800 miles. For each mile you go that’s 1 degree off, you go 92 feet off course. If you were 1 degree off for the whole trip, you would wind up almost 32 miles off target.

One degree is a small thing. Yet it adds up to a big thing.

We need to make sure we’re not missing the small things in our lives. We have to make sure we’re paying attention to what’s in our pockets.

If we’re not careful, we’ll head toward our destination and not get there or get messy in our travels.

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