Sister Newbold acknowledges a common singles attitude: Identifying yourself by what you don’t have.  When you do that, you’ll live in a space where you’re deficient.  Sister Newbold’s response is an effective one: Live in a space where you see yourself as you’ll be, because that’s how God sees you.  By living “as though” God’s promises are fulfilled, you can be joyful now.

Sister Newbold recognizes the difficulty of reconciling as yet unfulfilled promises with the reality of LDS singles life.  Her answer is to live “as though” those promises have been fulfilled, though she admits that’s challenging.  She writes, “Given that God is a God of promises, it becomes hard at times for me to reconcile why certain promises have not yet been fulfilled in my life.”

I’m sure many singles can relate.  I myself felt that challenge a few months ago.  In the midst of my most challenging semester of school ever, questions about my patriarchal blessing began to feel more demanding.  And given my age, I began to wonder how my promised blessings will ever come to me.

Sure, it’s easy to say, “Well, sometimes patriarchal blessings get fulfilled in eternity.” But that doesn’t apply to the married life the Lord promised me.  Very clear and unambiguous language speaks of my temple marriage in this life and actions my children and posterity will take in this life.  These and other blessings are promised to me in this life, not the next.

Given I’m in my late 40s and not getting any younger, questions of how those promises would be fulfilled troubled me.  At the time, I really struggled with those questions.  Now I simply feel a quiet confidence somehow it’ll all happen.

Sister Newbold’s answer to that challenge, as mentioned earlier, is to live “as though” promised blessings have arrived.  How do we do that?  Sister Newbold shares three suggestions.

First, she suggests considering a variety of promises.  LDS singles tend to fixate on the marriage they by definition don’t have right now.  That focus blinds them from seeing other promised blessings they already have, many of which they take for granted.  Recognizing these less appreciated but bountiful blessings invites gratitude and trust God will keep all His promises.

Second, she suggests recognizing God’s hand in our lives.  Many in today’s world focus on what they lack, and as long-time audience members will tell you, your focus becomes your reality.  Focusing on lack creates a reality of scarcity, which inhibits the ability to feel joy.  But focusing on what you have creates a reality of abundance.  I really like how Sister Newbold extends that idea to the sacrament.

Third, Sister Newbold suggests helping the Lord keep His promises to others through Spirit-directed service.  When you follow the Spirit’s promptings to help others, you can help answer their prayers.  You can find joy in being the Lord’s hands.

Honestly, I appreciate a perspective centered on our focus rather than the traditional and highly unhelpful ”Just hold faithful, and everything will be right in the next life.”  Additionally, Sister Newbold readily admits that “trusting in His promises is not always an easy choice.”

She also says “living ‘as though’ will look different for everyone.”  I suspect that’s only true in the particulars.  I could summarize what that looks like for her as making and keeping as many covenants as she can, in essence living all of the gospel she can.  I think that would describe living “as though” for any LDS single.

God will keep every promise made to every one of us.  He has thousands of years of experience doing just that for the generations that came before us.  And the Spirit can remind us of moments when He’s kept promises in our own lives.  So we can trust He’ll keep every as yet unfulfilled promise.  When we live“as though” by walking with faith He’ll do just that, we can be instruments in fulfilling His purposes, all the while experiencing the quiet confidence that somehow it’ll all happen for us.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

The story begins with Phil Connors, the weatherman for Channel 9 News in Pittsburgh.  The man is clearly full of himself, so it’s no surprise no one really likes him, not even himself.  He’s a rather disgruntled man who thinks covering the Groundhog Day Festival is beneath him.

So imagine his shock when he wakes up thinking it’s February 3rd only to find out it’s February 2nd again.  The bewilderment continues as each morning he wakes up to find that somehow in his sleep he went back in time by one day.  He keeps living the same day over and over again.

His first reaction is denial.  This can’t be happening to me!  Denial drives resistance, but no matter how he fights against his situation, the next morning is always February 2nd again.  His denial then turns into despair.  This report he gives at the festival summarizes his condition rather well.

That day ended in suicide, but it doesn’t end him.  In despair, Phil keeps trying to kill himself in different ways trying unsuccessfully to escape his never-ending cycle.

And then one of those February 2nd days becomes a pivot day when everything changes.  Phil doesn’t escape the never-ending cycle, but he does find a new perspective on his situation.  And what changed everything was Rita.

Rita is Phil’s producer.  She’s also the apple of his eye.  Previously he spent God knows how many successive February 2nd days trying to get into her pants.  But on his pivot day, Phil approaches Rita with a different agenda.  Instead of trying to satiate his lust, he sincerely cries for help.  (Why do I have a Rick Astley song in my head right now?)  Rita helps him and in the process begins to fall for him.

Of course, that disappears when everything resets the next morning.  But Phil remains changed, and he starts spending his February 2nd days improving upon himself, working to become a better, more quality person.  He takes up reading all kinds of books.  He learns to play the piano.  He takes up ice sculpting!  Not only do his efforts make him a better person, they make his life more interesting.

And the proof is in this report.  It’s the same day, same festival, but a completely different Phil.

Once he stopped trying to escape his situation and embraced it, Phil was able to tap into the joy  life has to offer every single day.  In the end, he escapes the cycle and gets the girl.

The allegory here to LDS singles is so clear I wonder why I didn’t see it earlier.  How many of us singles are in denial?  No, I can’t be single.  This can’t be happening to me!  And no matter what we do to fight it, we seem caught in a never-ending cycle of singleness from which we cannot escape.

But if we’d stop trying to escape from it and start embracing it, we could turn everything around.  We could start looking inside ourselves and working to become better, more quality people.  We can do things to make our lives more interesting.  We could tap into the joy God wants us to have every single day.

And we could help other singles to have their pivot day.  Just as Rita helped turn things around for Phil, we can reach out to one another.  Instead of looking only to satiate our own agendas when we interact with each other, we could help each other live better lives.

When we take a lesson from Groundhog Day, we can make the most of what seems to be a never-ending cycle of singleness.  By embracing our situation instead of trying to escape from it, we can live our best life and help others to do the same.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

Masks conceal one’s true identity, allowing that person to act differently without incurring the consequences of having those different actions connected with one’s reputation.  That’s why Batman wears a mask — to protect those he cares about from his enemies who would harm them to get to him.

That’s not necessarily nefarious.  That allows a freedom that couldn’t be found with concern over the consequences of one’s actions.  And that’s the key: concern over consequences.  You need the mask so others won’t connect what you do with your reputation.  But if you were willing to accept whatever consequences came from your actions, you wouldn’t need the mask.  You could simply live as you would while others have full view of who you really are.

We naturally shy away from such circumstances.  We all have a deep-seated need to belong, and it’s easier to belong when you do what everyone around you does — or what everyone around you expects you to do.  Wearing a mask allows you have one identity you present to others so you conform to their expectations while in reality holding a different identity that would incur consequences from others if only they knew about that different identity.

I’m not suggesting all masks are bad.  Who doesn’t like Batman?  I’m just saying we need to concern ourselves with how we use masks.  We need to understand what we’re really doing with the masks we choose to wear.  We need to live with intention.

As I apply that principle to myself, I see the need to put away a mask I’ve been wearing for myself.  I’ve thought of myself as a solid performer in my work, someone who always delivers.  But recent experience suggests otherwise.  I may have never failed to deliver in a previous time, but times have changed.

What happened?  I’m not entirely certain.  I think part of it is my singleness.  Without needing to perform at a higher level needed to support a family, it’s been easier to accept performing at a lower level while maintaining within my psyche an identity that differs from reality.  I’ve been wearing a mask so I can feel better about myself.

This is one mask I don’t need to wear, because wearing it means living a lie.  It’s better to live in truth and embrace who I really am, an imperfect man who experiences setbacks but who also has the potential to rise above those setbacks and conquer whatever challenge lies before him.  Embracing that truth means true freedom, because that embrace allows me to live without concern for the consequences of others seeing me as I truly am.

What masks do you wear?  Have you established for yourself a space of false security so that others will think about you in a certain way or so that you can feel good about yourself?  How about having others think about you in that way because you really are that way?  How about feeling good about yourself by embracing who you really are?

Many of us wear a mask we shouldn’t be wearing.  Let’s embrace changes in ourselves so we can really see ourselves as we should be, or let’s embrace our actual self as our ideal.  Acquiring and maintaining that match produces self-esteem.  Combine that with living with intention, and you’re on your way to your best life.

Leave the mask alone.  Embrace the freedom that comes from embracing truth.  You’ll feel better about yourself, better your life, and better about your future.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

But I really wasn’t capturing the full depth of those words.  Maybe I needed some time and distance as well as some more experience with the world to appreciate what he gave all of us.  Indeed, you could say that’s one thing I’m learning.  And after the program today, perhaps we all can say it’s one among many of what we are learning.

Addressing the global pandemic, President Nelson shared four lessons he hoped we’ve all learned and won’t forget.  I sense a greater sense of optimism in his words now than I did six months ago.  That optimism increases my appreciation for his first lesson: The home is the center of faith and worship.

I think most of us recognized the prophetic nature of the 2018 announcement regarding home-centered church.  But I’m not sure that was true before COVID hit.  I certainly didn’t recognize the significance of some of my pre-COVID promptings.  For instance, shortly before the first lockdown I felt impressed to purchase white tablecloths.  What do I need white table cloths for? I thought to myself.  When am I ever going to use a white tablecloth?

I found out soon enough.  What a blessed privilege was mine to partake of bread and water in memory of my Lord and in my own home!  I truly felt closer to my Heavenly Father in those moments than I had in any worship service in a chapel.

In response to such an experience, President Nelson asked,

Considering what we need to do to increase the security and serenity of our own homes would be time well spent.

President Nelson’s second and third lessons, that we need each other and your priesthood quorum is more than just a meeting, seem especially intertwined.  We really do have a unique opportunity to leverage the present pandemic to unify God’s children like the world has never before seen.

But that will become reality only if, as President Nelson asked, our shared trial has drawn us closer to one another.  These days it seems the pandemic is driving us farther apart.  But if that’s true, it’s because we’ve forgotten the two commandments President Nelson declared could guide us — first, to love God, and second, to love our neighbor.

I especially love President Nelson’s teaching that

Flip that around, and see the profundity of the Prophet’s teaching.  Why has God sent us to earth in families and wards and stakes?  He wants us to work together and help each other.  Why has He asked us to serve and minister to each other?  He wants us to work together and help each other.  Why has He asked us to live in but not be of the world?  He wants us to work together and help each other.  One could apply that answer to this question: Why has God organized priesthood holders into quorums?  Priesthood is indeed more than a church meeting.

President Nelson’s final lesson from the pandemic ties the others together.  The home is the center of faith and worship.  We need each other.  Your priesthood quorum is more than just a meeting.  And we hear Jesus Christ better when we are still.

As I just mentioned, the pandemic seems to be driving us further apart.  We seem more agitated and contentious than ever.  President Nelson confirmed we’re living in prophesied days of commotion and fear.  He didn’t declare that commotion would be temporary.  Rather, it’ll increase.

But we need not be in commotion.  If we can be still, we can hear the Savior’s voice speaking peace and confidence to us.  As President Nelson taught,

Making time for quiet reflection will become more and more essential as the world becomes more and more contentious.  If we will do as the Prophet instructs, we will see the fulfillment of his promise that “the future is bright for God’s covenant-keeping people.”  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

Most people, single or married, simply accept what they're given.  They don't chase what they want.  The result is they often don't get what they want.  And not getting what they want, they end up unhappy.  They settle for a life far beneath their privileges.

It doesn't have to be that way for anyone.  And yes, anyone includes YOU!  I don't care what's happened to you or where you're from or how old you are or any of that business.  Results come from one thing and one thing only, and that's action.  Period.  Take the same actions, you get the same results.  Take different actions, you get different results.

Once you stop over-thinking it and just accept the simplicity of that truth, it's easier to see other truths, like the need to own your life.  After all, if your results come from your actions, then the only way your life gets better is with better actions.  And that means accepting responsibility for how your life results and start choosing actions that will produce the results you want.

Most don't really struggle with grasping the Law of the Harvest.  They know they need more effective actions to get more effective results.  What many struggle with are the details.  They don't know exactly what actions are the more effective ones.  "What specific actions," they ask, "do I need to take to get the specific results I want?"

If you're asking that question, understand you'll never know the answer you should have for that question if you don't get your thinking right.  Sound bonkers?  It's still completely true.  We don't just act; we're not hardwired that way.  We're biologically hardwired to play out habit.  And that means some thinking had to occur before we took any action.

Without understanding why you've chosen to act as you have in the past, you won't know what you need to choose in the future to get different results.  Understanding the connection between what you've done and what you got will help you know what changes you need in what you do to get changes in what you get.

One of my favorite scenes in the film Jack Reacher is when Jack is in Helen's office helping her understand why her client is innocent.  To open her mind to new possibilities, Jack has Helen look at people working late in a neighboring building.  He slowly steps her through seeing through new eyes what she's seen before too many times to count.  And he does it by entertaining an important philosophical question of what it truly means to be free.

True freedom exists in how you think.  Changing how you think lets you see more clearly the connections between what you've done and what you got.  You can see new possibilities for getting something different.  You can see the changes you need in yourself to embrace those possibilities.  And you can see how that future can be yours regardless of what's happened to you or where you're from or how old you are or any of that business.

Break yourself free of a life far less than the one you're capable of living.  God gave you agency so you could choose for yourself what you'll do.  Choose to learn the connections between how you think, what you do, and what you get.  Then choose to leverage that knowledge in better actions designed to yield better results.  When you consistently choose to plant and nurture seeds of more effective action, over time you'll reap a harvest of more effective results.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

What does surprise me is that singles have been the majority for the past two years and only now are we hearing the Brethren talk about it openly.  Whatever the reason for its delay, the announcement is no less welcome.  It marks a noticeable and important turning point in the unfolding of the Restoration, declaring to the world that, no matter your background or circumstances, there is room in the inn for you.

It hasn't always been that way in practice.  You don't need to be a long-time listener of the program to know the traditional family-centered culture of the Church has challenged many singles to feel like they truly belonged.  But probably only long-time listeners know some of my experiences with that challenge.

Of all of the different wards I've attended, one of the most challenging was the midsingles ward I attended in Seattle.  That assertion may surprise some who think that I as a single adult should feel a greater sense of belonging in a ward filled with other singles.  But it was not so.  Far from it, I routinely felt isolated, ignored, and invisible.

Memories of those days played in my mind as Elder Gong spoke of a gospel culture of belonging, one in which everyone is important, even essential.  What he describes is the exact opposite of what I experienced.  To be fair, I've been a part of some really outstanding wards filled with people who really reached out to help me feel welcome and included.  And these wards entered my life at times when I need relief and rest from wrestling with the challenge presented in other wards, like the midsingles ward in Seattle.  The Lord's hand was definitely evident in those moves.

The Lord's hand was also evident in Elder Gong's remarks.  As he spoke of the Church as a place where "we are all equal, with no second-class groups," Elder Gong provided more impetus for the change that has been unfolding now for the past several years.

Long-time listeners to the program will know what I'm talking about here — a change in the culture away from a center on family and towards a center on Christ.  A family-centered culture means you need to have a family to belong, but a Christ-centered culture means you need to have Christ to belong.  Singles by definition don't have a complete family of their own, but everyone can have a covenant relationship with and devoted discipleship of the Lord.

Elder Gong recognizes as much when he declares,

Elder Gong identifies a change in the culture more explicitly when he taught,

Oh, the times, they are a-changin'!

Hearing Elder Gong describe the Christ-centered culture I've advocated on this platform for years set me on fire.  It also filled me with deep gratitude to God He hasn't forsaken His single sons and daughters but rather remembers every single one (pun intended).

We don't always know what the future will bring, but we can always know the goodness of God as He dispenses grace and tender mercies in hours of need.  "As we create room in His Inn," Elder Gong declares, "welcoming all, our Good Samaritan can heal us on our dusty mortal roads."  That is why only in helping others can we receive the help we each really need.

There will always be room in the inn where true disciples reach out in love to welcome all and keep all on the covenant path.  As we each contribute in our own way to that effort, we will embrace a truer, purer gospel culture in which all truly belong.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

I particularly like how President Nelson tied his message of preparation to the principles of preparation Captain Moroni followed.  And the first principle President Nelson examines is creating places of security.

President Nelson defines a place of security as “anywhere you can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost and be guided by Him.”  Of the different places of security he describes — home, stakes, and temple — your home is the most important.  Stakes and temples offer great spiritual security.  But your home is a place of both temporal and spiritual security.  It’s the place of security to which you repair most often and over which you have the most control.

So what control are you exercising over your home?  Is it a place to which you can resort physically, financially, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually?  If you find like me that you have more work to do, then get busy.  Make your home a true place of security.

We’ve long talked on this program about how your focus determines your reality.  How you think creates the life you live.  So to prepare places of security in your life, you need to prepare your mind with the right thinking.

President Nelson extolled faith as the wellspring of the most effective thinking.  He referenced the recent earthquake in Salt Lake to exemplify the need for a solid foundation that can withstand the spiritual shaking that comes to everyone.  Faith in Jesus Christ is the ultimate spiritual foundation.  As President Nelson declares, “we can stand ‘steadfast and immovable’ because of our faith.”

Staying on the covenant path always increases faith.  Resisting the sway of enticements to step off the covenant path requires us to exercise faith.  And exercising faith always increases faith.  Additionally, President Nelson proclaims “regular immersion in the Book of Mormon” as “our latter-day survival guide.”

But President Nelson cited God as the ultimate source of security.  Said he,

So how are you preparing your mind to create places of security?  How are you exercising your faith?  How often are you immersing yourself in the Book of Mormon?  Are you seeking and receiving the personal revelation you need in your life?

These activities require constant and consistent dedication.  We can’t, for example, have a single spiritual experience and expect a lifetime of spiritual security.  Having places of security means always preparing them.

And as President Nelson points out, Satan is nothing if not persistent, and so we can never stop preparing.  “The more self-reliant we are—temporally, emotionally, and spiritually—the more prepared we are to thwart Satan’s relentless assaults.”  President Nelson never said it would be easy, but he did promise “the future will be glorious for those who are prepared and who continue to prepare to be instruments in the Lord’s hands.”

He then offered these words of encouragement:

Embrace the future with faith!  Partner with the Lord as you prepare your own places of security in your life.  Exercising more and more that faith will surround you with ever increasing levels of peace amid the turmoil to come.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

That said, my experience still excites me because it gives me great hope the culture of the larger Latter-day Saint community will soon eliminate what has traditionally provided the greatest challenge in LDS singles life.  Just as we know rain will fall when we see storm clouds gather, we can see the cultural signs around us indicating a change is gonna come.

I’ve long spoken on this platform about the challenges LDS singles have traditionally faced.  For those who may be new to the audience, the bulk of those challenges stem from our family-centered culture.

Traditionally, LDS culture has centered on family.  That means the marker of belonging to that culture is being married with kids, because that’s what having a family has traditionally meant.  Because everyone has a deeply seated need to belong to a larger group, LDS singles have struggled to belong when the marker of belonging is something they by definition don’t have.

That’s why for years I’ve called for a change in the culture to one centered on Christ.  The marker of belonging in that culture would be discipleship.  Such a culture would both support the family while being inclusive of those who are different.  No matter your background or your situation, you can work to make and keep sacred covenants that everyone else in the LDS community makes.  You can be a disciple.  You can belong.

I kept affirming my message of cultural change despite the appearance of little if any move in that direction.  But that all changed in 2018.  That’s when I saw my first glimmer of hope.

That’s because that’s when the Brethren unveiled the ministering initiative.  My heart jumped for joy while I physically jumped on my couch at hearing the announcement.  I saw then a shift in perspective to see inquiring after the needs of others not as a duty, which is what home and visiting teaching had largely become, but as an opportunity to build the kingdom and grow in discipleship.

That’s exactly in line with the vision I’ve always proposed for the most successful singles groups.  They focus on bringing everyone together and making everyone feel they belong.  They know it doesn’t matter what people’s background or circumstances are, and they proclaim that knowledge in the way they act and treat others.

Seeing this shift announced in General Conference brought me a new hope that the change I had been talking about for years could be on the edge of unfolding into reality.

That’s why I was so excited when I saw what appeared at the time to be a change in the home page of the Church website.  The layout and content were all focused on Christ as the center.  And they combined together to create a unequivocal message of belonging no matter your background or circumstances.

I’ve always believed our Church leaders on the global level have been aware of the singles.  Many of the failings LDS singles have cited have root in local leaders who either haven’t understood how to minister effectively to singles or have been so busy with other priorities that ministering to singles simply didn’t happen.

But all of that will be history.  Change is gonna come!  We can look forward to the future with hope and optimism in a brighter and better day.  Our Lord truly knows us and our circumstances.  He’ll inspire His disciples to move in a more positive direction while at the same time exercising the compassion of patience in respecting their agency to implement those changes.

Let us also exercise the compassion of patience in respecting the agency of our leaders, both global and local, while also helping them to improve in their ministering efforts towards us and other LDS singles.  As we do, we’ll make the ground more fertile for the changes that will come.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

It helps me to remember I am not on my journey through life alone.  But it helps even more to vocalize that to someone.

A couple of weeks ago I had an extended conversation with my stake president.  Given my calling as his executive secretary, my recent struggles with singleness especially concerned him.  But I found that vocalizing my faith to someone who shares it filled me with an extra measure of strength that I previously did not know.

And how I needed that strength!  It’s one thing to believe the promises of the Lord when you seem to have all the time in the world.  But as you age and that window of youthful opportunity gets smaller and smaller, it gets harder and harder to believe.

But whatever difficulty or ease we each may have in believing does not change the essential truth of His promises.  That thought gives me courage, and so it can to you as well.  The Lord will fulfill every single one of His promises to you [pun intended].  So great will be your blessing that, when that glorious day finally comes, you’ll wonder how it ever was that you doubted Him.

How do you believe that?  How do you generate such faith in the Lord and in His promises that you continue to believe fervently even when everything around you seems to say the exact opposite?

You must first approach the Lord.  We must walk in the ways of the Master Who still has power to calm the waves and the storms around us.  Then you must take action.  You can’t just wish and wait, expecting your blessings to come.  To increase your faith, you must increase your action.  To believe Him more, you must walk more in the covenant path.

As I reflect upon my own performance, I quickly see my shortcomings.  That’s not surprising given my lifelong status as a walking construction zone.  But perfection is not about performance; it’s about persisting towards proximity to Christ.  As we keep trying to follow Him and come closer to Him, He gives us strength to endure well the time before our blessings come, whether that time be short or long.

In the post from two years ago, I said, “If all of us were to step back and observe the situation, we’d see that all fear does is prevent us from taking the next step in our journey.  But whatever your fears are, you still control what response you will provide.  Will you allow your fear to control you and cower from your next step?  Or will you control you and take that next step?”

The moments I experience now try me more than the moments I encountered two years ago.  But reading those words from two years ago now gives me added strength to endure well my more trying moments in the present and added hope my moments in the future will still be brighter and more glorious than I could ever imagine.

The Lord will grant you the tender mercies you need to face your fears just as He has for me.  He will help you to trust Him.  And when you truly trust Him, you can walk by faith even if your path is upon the very water that waves against you in the storm.  When you trust Him, He will show you your diligence and patience will not go unrewarded.  When you trust Him, He will make you more and more equal to whatever challenge confronts you.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

And that's quite an accomplishment.  Most of my posts contain just under 800 of my own words each, so by that estimation I've written about 278,400 words.  That's more than a quarter million words!  It just goes to show you don't know how far you've come until you stop and consider.

I had no idea what I'd accomplished with my word count until I stopped to consider it.  I don't think I imagined that result when I published the first few hundred words with that first post in 2014.  The only thing I imagined was never backing down.  And look what that attitude brought.

We all have potential for greatness.  But if you're like most people, that potential is largely untapped.  I haven't completely untapped my greatness, but as just described, I've started.  And I did it by consistent, persistent effort.  I did the work to lay the "bricks" in my "building" one at a time.  Now, years later, I can look back at the wonderful edifice I've built.

I can also look ahead to the "building" I'll yet have, because what I see today is hardly finished.  That's no different from any of us, really.  We're all walking construction zones, filled with more imperfections than Swiss cheese has holes.  The encouraging part is that God isn't finished with us yet.

If I trust that Master Architect to accomplish His grand design, all I need to do is what's right before me today.  I have the "building" I have because over time I laid the next "brick" when I needed to lay the next "brick."

And in laying that "brick," I thought hardly anything about future "bricks."  I focused simply on the work to be done now, the work that was right in front of me.  That work was laying a single "brick" in place.

I'm reminded of something Will Smith said about success in an interview with Charlie Rose.

That's all I've done with the Joy in the Journey Radio blog.  I didn't set out to write over a quarter of a million words.  I just set out to write a few hundred each week.  That was the work that was right in front of me each week.  And now, years later, I can look back at the "wall" I've constructed from the accumulation of "bricks" laid for every week after 2013.

In reality, anyone can do this.  My accomplishment isn't the only one that can be broken down into individual "bricks."  Any greatness you dream of having can come the same way.  In fact, there's no other way it can come.

So what are the small, seemingly inconsequential tasks you need to perform to achieve your dreams?  What "brick" do you need to lay today (and every day) to build the future you want?  If you don't know how to answer that question, perhaps you should stop and consider that.

While you're at it, consider how far you've come already, and schedule appointments with yourself to consider it again at regular intervals into the future.  Our modern age has us expecting everything instantly, but that's not how real progress works.  You need occasionally to consider how far you've come to remind yourself of what you have done and motivate you towards what you can yet do.

It may not be quick, but slow and steady will win your race.  Consider how far you've come.  Then look to the work you need to do today and throw everything you have into doing that work the best you can.  Do that every single day, and before long you'll begin tapping into your potential and living your dreams.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.