Collective Voice

“It it’s not going to matter in 5 years, don’t spend more than 5 minutes on it.”

“Dream big.”

“You can’t do big things if you’re focused on the small things.”

If you’ve been online lately, and you know you have, you will have seen plenty of quotes like these walking the fine line between motivational mantra and business advice. My New Year’s wish is that you please question these, especially if you’re an entrepreneur in any capacity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the first to advocate for both empowering messages and long-term thinking, and I mean it! Just have a look at the chloédigital feed – a business I’ve built around strategic planning.

So why the pinch of salt at this ‘think big only’ mentality? Because the small stuff matters. Having a big vision and caring about the future doesn’t mean you can completely forget about the small stuff, it’s just not realistic regardless of the industry or company scale you’re in. My small stuff is made of late night responses (the constant time zone struggle!), of caring about the team’s and our members’ issues, of early starts to prepare costing spreadsheets, or deciding on the subject line for an email. I won’t remember most of these micro responsibilities in 5 years and you might not remember yours either, but the people you impacted along the way will.

Your priorities won’t always be in line with those around you and that doesn’t make either less valuable, so next time you’re worried about ‘sweating the small stuff’ – don’t be! It’s what will make your work great down to every detail.

xo

Chloé Watts

chloedigital.com