Looking at the title of today’s column may have some of you a little overwhelmed. I mean some of you may be saying to yourselves, “Extraordinary? I am happy to just get through the day.”

Wow, “extraordinary,” that is a big word when we look at it through the lens of doing something so extraordinary, so fantastic, so incredible, or so fabulous and where we expect to have a massive impact or outcome in some area of our lives or in the lives of others.

What if we broke the word down just a little bit? What if we take some of the pressure off? What if we agreed that we could all do something just a little extra ordinary each day? What if we could all just do something a little extra ordinary once a week? How would that impact our lives, our relationships, and our work?

A big and massive outcome by doing something just a little extra ordinary, just a little different than we have been doing recently. A little more unique and extra than those around us are doing? Being extraordinary today can happen when we just do something out of the ordinary and unexpected.

Maybe for ourselves we can find 15 extra minutes of personal time or down time where we can focus on our own mind, body, and spirit. Maybe we can catch a power nap or read a little more of the book we are enjoying so much. We can go for a hike or walk or spend an extra 15 minutes in the gym. If our spirit needs a little attention, we can look to do a little more or extra in our prayer time or quiet time.

Be extraordinary today in our relationships. How would our day go if we just did something a little extra ordinary than what we have been doing lately? What if we spent our mornings together having a cup of coffee and talking for a few minutes instead of rushing around and barely saying goodbye to one another as we escape out the door? How long does it take to send a loving text to our spouses or children? When was the last time you called a friend and just told them how much they meant to you? Opening a car door for our spouse, mom, grandmother, aunt, or girlfriend seems old-fashioned to some, but I can promise you it is something that is a little extra ordinary and when done consistently will send an extraordinary message to the people in our lives.

Be extraordinary today at work. How much more work could we accomplish if we arrived just a few minutes earlier than normal? What if we knew there was a task or project that needed to get done and our teammate or associate was a little behind schedule? Could we lend a quick hand, pitch in to get the job done? Could we say, “please” and “thank you” just a little bit more, a little more than we used to, and a little more than others might do? Showing appreciation is that little something extra ordinary that will have our customers, co-workers, employers, and employees seeing an extraordinary new attitude and change.

So how about you? When you see a word like “extraordinary” does it seem too big or too overwhelming? Does it make more sense when we look at it together as just doing something a little different and extra ordinary? As always, I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can just do that little something extra in our lives, we can all be extraordinary today.

Michael Norton is a resident of Castle Rock, the president of the Zig Ziglar Corporate Training Solutions Team, a strategic consultant and a business and personal coach.