I used to hate making my bed. It’s a simple task, yes, but always seemed unnecessary; I’m just going to mess it up again tonight. Plus, it’s not like I’m parading tour groups through my bedroom. Who cares if it looks sloppy?
As my adult life has rolled on, it’s often suggested to me that I should make my bed. It’s the adult thing to do, they say. For a long time, I’d occasionally comply, but for the most part my bed remained a disheveled mess of pillows, blankets, and teddy bea…um, sheets. The idea of should has never really carried a ton of weight at the Lodge.
Then, sometime last spring, I was forwarded Admiral Bill McRaven’s commencement speech at the University of Texas. A 36-year Navy SEAL himself, McRaven was also the commander of SEAL Team Six – the guys that got Bin Laden. Basically, what he says matters.
McRaven shared with the graduating class ten things he learned in SEAL training that he thought could be of value to their lives. And the first one? Make your bed. Yeah.
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.
If 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—rack—that’s Navy talk for bed.
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 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 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.
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 little things in life matter.
If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.
And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
Sold. If you’re interested, you can see the whole speech below.