{"id":4384,"date":"2025-01-31T08:03:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T13:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4384"},"modified":"2025-01-31T08:03:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T13:03:40","slug":"the-power-of-small-beginnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/31\/the-power-of-small-beginnings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Small Beginnings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

206.8 is an oddly specific number.

But that\u2019s the figure that emerged from the research of socio-economist Randall Bell, who diligently studied the habits of more than 5,000 people from all walks of life.

Bell concluded that there is a particular daily practice that makes it 206.8% more likely that you will one day be a millionaire. In his book Me We Do Be<\/em>, he insists that this habit \u201cchanges your frame of reference that carries on through the day, that when there\u2019s a job to be done you\u2019re going to get it done.\u201d

And what is that unusually significant practice?

Making your bed<\/em>.

Four-Star Admiral William H. McRaven said the same thing in his oft-cited commencement address at the University of Texas in 2014. “If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. .\u2009.\u2009. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made \u2013 that you made \u2013 and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.”

McRaven continued, \u201cI have been a Navy SEAL for 36 years. Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed.

\u201cIf you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack (that\u2019s Navy talk for bed).\u201d

He concludes, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”

The reason that McRaven\u2019s speech continues to move people more than a decade later is that all of us know, from experience, that big things have small beginnings.

Even the smallest decisions \u2013 the simplest rituals that are worth doing \u2013 inspire a sense of hope.

Jesus says as much in his parable of the mustard seed: \u201cThe kingdom of heaven is like a\u00a0mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.\u00a0Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches\u201d (Matthew 13:31-32).

It’s easy to fall in love with big steps. Monumental leaps.\u00a0Breakthrough moments.

But Jesus is saying that the grandest thing in the universe \u2013 people beginning to live as if God\u2019s reign matters more than anything else \u2013 starts with little steps, little decisions, and little acts of kindness to which you\u2019d hardly pay attention.

The hope-filled action of beginning each day by bringing some order into our own little corner of the universe \u2013 by making our bed \u2013 prepares us for the drama of offering mustard seed blessings to others.

We are better equipped to encourage instead of tear down. Forgive instead of resent. Hug our kid instead of yell. Keep a promise instead of sighing, \u201cwhatever.\u201d

Admiral McRaven wrapped up his commencement address with a challenge:

\u201cTonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from the University of Texas. The average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. That\u2019s a lot of folks. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just 10 people \u2014 and each one of those folks changed the lives of another 10 people \u2014 just 10 \u2014 then in five generations \u2014 125 years \u2014 the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.

\u201c800 million people \u2014 think of it \u2014 over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world \u2014 eight billion people.

\u201cIf you think it\u2019s hard to change the lives of 10 people \u2014 change their lives forever \u2014 you\u2019re wrong. It\u2019s the beginning of changing the world. It can happen anywhere and anyone can do it.\u201d

On any given day, whether or not we ever become millionaires, every one of us is ideally positioned to live out one of life\u2019s most important lessons:

The heaviest doors often turn on the smallest hinges.<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here 206.8 is an oddly specific number. But that\u2019s the figure that emerged from the research of socio-economist Randall Bell, who diligently studied the habits of more than 5,000 people from all walks of life. Bell concluded that there is a particular daily practice that makes it 206.8% more likely that you… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[834,498,860],"class_list":["post-4384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-disciplines","tag-mustard-seed","tag-small"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4384"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4386,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4384\/revisions\/4386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}