It’s the Little Things: Make Your Bed Every Day for Greater Success In Life and Business

A few years ago, Admiral William McRaven started quite the viral buzz when he came out on video elaborating on an assertion made in his book “Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… And Maybe the World.” In the book, and later the video, he stated that making your bed every day can positively impact your well-being, your behavior throughout the day, and possibly, be a predicator of overall personal and professional success.

 

(If you haven’t seen the video, watch it here.)

 

Summarily, what he explained was that committing to making your bed everyday — and then doing it — builds and grows discipline. It’s the simplicity, he elaborated, that makes the task do-able and when done, gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment.

 

Since the Admiral’s video went viral, many others have jumped on the “make your bed every morning for success” bandwagon. Each of them give a slightly different rationale for why this is so critical to positive results in life and career, but the gist is basically the same.

 

Some of the more common reasons to make your bed every day include:

 

It Starts Your Day Off Right

 

The sense of accomplishment — getting done your first task of the day early — gives you the impetus to attempt completion of another task. And another.

 

It Leads to Better Productivity

 

This might seem like a stretch but in “The Power of Habit,” by Charles Duhigg, making your bed daily becomes a habit that starts off a “chain” of other good choices in the day. Basically, it helps you develop a sense of personal responsibility that can positively snowball into other areas such as growing determination and self-discipline—things that not only help to increase the likelihood of personal, but also professional, success.

 

It Improves Your Mood and Even Helps Reduce Stress

 

Because you spend so much time in your bedroom, the way your room looks can impact the way you feel. It’s hard to feel organized, cool, and collected if your room looks the opposite. Making your bed — just that one little thing — can make your room seem much less cluttered and thus, improve the feeling of your entire surroundings. According to Gretchen Rubin of “The Happiness Project,” this correlates to increased happiness as well.

 

However as business owners and well, simply “good humans,” there is yet another —perhaps more or most important — reason to make your bed. Everyday.

 

Making our bed every day teaches us that the small things matter. After all, making your bed… something that takes a mere minute or two… can definitely seem like a “small thing.” However, look at how many different aspects of life the “experts” say doing this one “little thing” improves. It’s rather amazing.

 

In business, it’s much the same. Often, we spend so much time on the big picture or big goals or chasing big success that we forget it’s the little things that really help us get there. It’s the little things that combine to create big things. It’s the little things that separate the “big” winners from losers.

 

So go ahead. Make your bed. Everyday. See how your life changes. And let me know the transformations you see and experience.