A few months ago, the cable that controls the back hatch in our car broke. I’d like to think it was because I’m getting so huge lately and I opened it too hard in a burst of unexpected strength. It was probably just old.

So for a few days, we couldn’t get in the back of our SUV because the handle wouldn’t work.

We took the car to a mechanic. They fixed it quickly and we picked up the car. Everything was fine with the door handle. It worked and you could open the hatch without any problems. But when we looked inside the car we were surprised what they had done. Inside the car are several huge gouges. Apparently, in order to remove the panel from the back hatch they used a variety of gouging tools.

I’m not sure that’s the technical name, I do not think Pep Boys has a “gouging tools” section, but that’s what happened. Whether it was done in haste to remove the hatch or just laziness doesn’t really matter. They damaged our car in fixing it.

Fast forward six months and it’s time to do some more repairs to the car. Something in the engine isn’t working. As we drove down the road debating where to get it fixed, my wife said something really interesting to me:

“The last place we went made a mess of the hatch, I’m not letting them into the engine.”

I promise you the mechanic who gouged the car did not see the relationship between those two things. It’s just a hatch. It’s just a small detail inside the back of a car. It’s not a big deal.

But all too often, small details are really just big auditions.

When we start a new dream or a new business or a new adventure, we want to start with the engine. We want the big client with the big account or the big book with the big book deal or the big event with the big crowd. We want the engine.

But more often than not, we get the hatch.

And that can be disappointing. That can be a little be demoralizing. That can be a little frustrating. Unless you see the relationship between a small detail and a big audition.

You’ve got to do the little things really well. You’ve got show passion and hustle and heart for even the moments that other people are going to write off as “hatch moments.” Because if your dream is really worth it, you might have to spend a lot of time being excellent at the small things while you get good enough to build enough trust for people to offer you the big opportunities.