Last night I stepped off the treadmill a little weary from having run 78 miles.

OK, that’s only sort of true.

I did step off the treadmill, I was a little weary, and I did run 78 miles, just not all at once. In truth, the miles in question were logged over 26 separate 3-mile runs during a span of almost 7 weeks; a fact I clearly don’t expect will impress you.

What I hope you will find impressive is what doing a small thing over and over can accomplish. Spending time with your child, going the extra mile for a customer, saying yes when others are saying no, or any of a thousand other things that seem insignificant on their own: these actions add up. Last year I sent close to 300 thank you cards simply by sending at least one every business day. Each card was a tiny commitment of my time and resources, but the aggregate impact was huge.

You can be great today, but that greatness will rarely (if ever) be defined by one amazing act. Every day is loaded with choices that look inconsequential on their own, but become significant with repetition, and it’s up to you to recognize the long term implications of consistently choosing correctly.

When you become disciplined about the small things, the big things mysteriously sort themselves out.