“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” Lao Tzu.

There was a fantastic reminder last weekend from the world of sport that life is all about margins. Quite often there is often a small difference between winning and losing, success and failure, hitting or missing a target. I am sure that you can think of countless examples from your own life experiences.

Last weekend, England won the cricket world cup by beating New Zealand. After their allotted 50 overs each team tied on the same score of 241 runs. They then each had a super over and again the scores were tied with 15 runs each. A New Zealand batsman failed to complete the winning run by a matter of centimetres. The contest was settled by the number of boundaries that each team had scored (England had scored 26 against New Zealand’s 17).

So after 48 matches and over 6 weeks of competition the world cup was settled by extremely fine margins. This validated the need for constant practice to hone and perfect your skills. These skills ultimately hit the boundaries that made all the difference on that day and meant an England player’s throw prevented New Zealand completing what would have been the winning run.

On the same afternoon Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in the Men’s Wimbledon Singles tennis final. The match lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes and the two men could barely be separated. The match was decided by a tie break in the final set. Djokovic eventually won the final set 13-12.

Also on that day Lewis Hamilton won the British Motor Racing Grand Prix at Silverstone. After 52 laps of the circuit and a distance of 190 miles the winning margin was just 24.928 seconds.

There is a great example of how constant practice of skills can help give people an edge and can ultimately lead to victory and success by a fine margin. In 2003 the England Rugby team won the Rugby World Cup. They beat Australia in the final, snatching victory in the last few seconds of the game. The match was settled by a drop goal by England’s Johnnie Wilkinson.

What many people didn’t know on that day was that Wilkinson had spent the previous Christmas day practicing his kicking. Johnnie had figured that any opponent he faced in the finals would not be out practicing on Christmas Day. He figured that the little bit of extra practice and preparation may just give him the edge.

The match result proved that his theory was correct and validated his decision to do extra practice. Johnnie’s dedication to finely hone his kicking skills meant England were crowned world champions.

As all the above examples show, it can be the tiniest of margins that determine the outcome of a situation. We all sometimes mistakenly think that we have to keep taking massive action to get a result.

The fact is that small incremental steps towards a goal accumulate into massive progress when applied consistently.

One action per day applied every working day of the year, towards a specific goal amounts to 365 separate actions. Thirty minutes spent every day focused on a project or target amounts to 10,950 minutes or 182.5 hours! It somehow seems bigger when you look at it like that!

Imagine what you could achieve if you applied yourself for 182 hours, with total focus and without distraction.

You may be able to plan a new business, meet your fitness goals, complete some study, learn a new skill, write a book or complete a DIY project.

As I am writing this, I am reminded of that famous African Proverb, often attributed to Anita Roddick, Founder of Body Shop:-

‘If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito’.

This quote always reminds me to keep in mind the power of small! A small action is better than no action and you don’t achieve anything in life without some sort of action! Being “in action” is always better than “inaction.”

One per cent extra effort, action, or preparation could make all the difference to your results and life experience.

This week, why not pause for a moment to reflect and consider what small daily and weekly actions you can commit to in order to achieve a goal or dream that you may have.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk