One Percent Better

What if, instead of trying to perfect everything we focus on getting 1% better on one thing after another? Over time those gains will aggregate into major improvement.

For small gains to aggregate, there must be a consistent, day-in and day-out effort. And although we won’t likely be perfect, we must be determined to mirror our persistence with patience. Do that, and the sweet rewards of increased righteousness will bring you the joy and peace you seek. As President Russell M. Nelson has taught: “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”

Consistency is key to success. We have to keep getting back on track before we creat a new rut away from the change we seek.

Obviously, if we are involved in grievous sins, the Lord is clear and unequivocal; we need to stop, get help from our bishop, and turn away from such practices immediately. But as Elder David A. Bednar enjoined: “Small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements are the steps the Lord would have us take. Preparing to walk guiltless before God is one of the primary purposes of mortality and the pursuit of a lifetime; it does not result from sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity.”

If sporadic is the best we can do at maintaining a goal then we need to break the goal down to something small enough that we can do it consistently.

Our precious promise down our roadway to the eternities is that we will indeed “triumph in Christ.” And as we commit to making small but steady improvements, we are promised “a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” With basking in that undimmable luster beckoning, I invite you to examine your life and see what’s stagnated or slowed you on the covenant pathway. Then look broader. Seek modest but makeable fixes in your life that might result in the sweet joy of being just a little better.

Remember, David used just one small stone to take down a seemingly invincible giant. But he had four other stones at the ready.

Having a few small goals can steady us because if we falter on one we can take solace in our success on another and use that to assure is that we can accomplish the one that is challenging us. (“Few” being a key here.)