The Small Decisions -- Pegine Echevarria

February 2005

It’s the Small Decisions
by Pegine Echevarria

"We cannot do great things, only small things with great love." -- Mother Teresa

It’s the small decisions that make all the difference in your life and in my life. Each day I am grasping this concept at a deeper level. The more I focus on the day and the present moment, the more I realise how powerful small decisions and small choices become in both business and my life.

Sometimes the small choices aren’t the wisest. I know that when I take negative actions I become rebellious, telling myself I don’t care. Have you ever found yourself indulging in a grudge, choosing a high sugar/high fat item or picking a fight with a loved one for no real reason? Every one of us takes these negative small choices at different intervals in our lives. Those small choices, if only done once, do not harm us. However we can indulge and take these negative small choices too often, resulting in large issues that are difficult to overcome.

In business, these negative small choices may be choosing to not say hello to co-workers, not sharing your opinions in a meeting or saying yes to a project that you know you are not suited for. Over time these actions result in low morale, passive aggressive behaviour and mediocre results.

Positive small decisions like choosing to take a brisk walk with your dog, smiling at your mate, choosing a leaf of lettuce rather than a potato chip can result, over the long run, in wonderfully successful results – financial freedom, love, and physical health.

In business, positive small decisions can result in higher productivity, increases in sales and enthusiastic employees. These small decisions and actions include greeting every person by name when you arrive, acknowledging individual accomplishments and having fun in the office.

This month’s try it and kick butt action talk about small choices and small decisions that result in big rewards.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." --Anne Frank

Try-it:

Small choices and small decisions lead to small actions that make a difference.

You have a choice:

*Smile or be stern faced. Smiles make people receptive to you. Stern faces keep people away. Which will you choose?

*Ask or keep quiet. Asking brings you business, information and opportunities. Keeping quiet brings nothing. Which will you choose?

*Seek support or do it alone. Seeking support, whether from a higher being, co-workers or family brings you assistance, reduced stress and enjoyable moments. Doing it alone brings loneliness, stress, and frustration. Which will you choose?

*Laugh or be sombre. Laughter brings joy and fun. Laughter brings energy and enthusiasm. Laughter brings confidence. Being sombre drains energy, defuses creativity and creates tension. Which will you choose?

"Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself." -- Thomas J. Watson

Kick-butt action:

Here is a list of small decisions and actions that leaders can use to make a difference in the lives of their followers.

*Walk the floor smiling and greeting staff
*Ask opinions of all levels of staff, learn their insights
*Acknowledge a job well done
*Don’t let an elevator ride go by without asking the employees about their families and lives
*Pay attention to the environment of your office, make sure you feel welcome
*Share your story of how you got to where you are
*Send a letter when a new baby is born to someone in the company. Send a company t-shirt
*Laugh with your staff
*Thank your assistants one a week
*Take a moment of silence to appreciate the people around you and how they help you achieve your goals
*Have gratitude moments in your day
*Share your vision for the company
*Be passionate about the business, if you’re not why should they?

Thought of the Month:

"God creates miracles when he sees us taking action." -- Pegine Echevarria, MSW

Magazines describe Pegine as one of the top motivational success and leadership experts with business and team building experience! Her teambuilding and motivational programs are experiential, fun and filled with content. Companies use her to motivate people, develop strong leaders & teams, and increase productivity. For more success, leadership and team building information visit her website at www.pegine.com.