There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.. The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. (Proverbs 30:24-28)

Dr. Delores Stephens was one of my favorite professors in college. She was an incredibly stylish, highly polished, and fiercely intelligent woman. Dr Stephens taught English, and I took several courses from her, including a year-long seminar on the works of William Shakespeare.

During every class, Dr. Stephens practiced two habits that profoundly impressed and deeply inspired me. First, she would summons an insightful word, phrase, or quotation from her prodigious memory, write it on the blackboard, and challenge us to track down the source (author and work). Second, she would encourage us to carry a notebook and jot down (by hand) words, paragraphs, or entire sections from any books, newspapers, or magazines that arrested our attention.

I’m not sure when I adopted those habits, but I did. And both have served me well. I have notebooks and file cabinets crammed full of provocative words, phrases, insights and anecdotes that I have collected and curated over the years.

Earlier this week, I was rummaging through some of those notebooks, and unearthed an excerpt from a commencement address that was given by Admiral William H. McCraven at the University of Texas on May 19, 2014. It stirred my spirit, and I hope it will stir yours. This is what he said:

“Every morning in SEAL training, my instructors who were at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they do is inspect my bed. If I did it right, the corners would be square, the covers would be pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack. It was a simple task, mundane at best, but every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection.

It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that we were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs. But the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over. If you made 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. And by the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter.

If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right.”

Question: Did you make your bed this morning?