Tag Archive for: effort

Many More Miles

This week I’ve walked – a lot!
Up and down hills, along quiet trails, through rugged country park tracks, and even across many miles of noisy city centres footpaths in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
My legs have been a wee bit tired, my boots are now well-worn in, and I’ve gone through a few snacks, but I am so grateful for my health.
I’ve also met a few people and had some interesting conversations on my journey too.
One of the highlights was a lovely walk with Monic around part of Loch Leven.
We weren’t in a rush – just walking, talking, and soaking in the stillness.
It was one of those slow, steady walks that grounds you, body and soul.
With every step however, I feel a little more ready for the West Highland Way in May.
It’s taken effort, daily discipline, and a lot of desire to keep going.
Right now, there’s a real focus in my life – a reason to lace up my shoes and get out the door, even when the weather’s been a little chillier or the route ahead feels long.
As I’ve walked, I’ve thought a lot about how this kind of preparation mirrors something spiritual too – especially with General Conference weekend here.
Just like a long-distance trail, the journey of faith requires daily effort.
We don’t prepare for big spiritual moments overnight.
It’s the small, consistent choices – prayer, scripture study, quiet service, that build our spiritual endurance.
General Conference is like a pleasant rest stop on that path.
A time to refill, realign, and refocus.
It doesn’t replace the journey; it helps us stay on it and grow stronger.
And just like how training for the West Highland Way has helped me feel more capable and more clear-headed, taking time to prepare spiritually helps me get more from the experience.
One verse keeps coming to mind:
“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” – Hebrews 12:1–2
This journey, both physical and spiritual, isn’t about speed.
It’s about steady progress, and keeping our eyes fixed on where we’re going.
So, here’s my question:
What are you doing right now to stay spiritually ready for the path ahead in your own life?

Pearls of Wisdom

Yesterday, Monic and I had a rather interesting and refreshing experience at Marchmont Dental Practice in Edinburgh, where our talented niece Sara works.
Some months ago, we made an appointment to trial a new system.
We went for an Airflow clean, a procedure carried out by Sara.
As I understand it, the Airflow technology works by emitting a powerful, yet precise jet of air, water, and fine powder to thoroughly clean our teeth.
The process was surprisingly fun and, more importantly, very effective.
Sara’s skilful approach, coupled with her warm and reassuring manner, made the entire experience both pleasant and at the same time quite educational!
She explained each step of the procedure clearly, putting us both completely at ease.
Dentists aren’t our favourite thing!
The results?
Brilliant!
Our teeth now feel cleaner, brighter, and remarkably smooth.
Reflecting upon yesterday, I couldn’t help but consider the lesson this procedure taught me.
The Airflow clean reminded me that careful, focused effort produces the best results.
Much like this procedure, life requires us to slow down, make careful adjustments, and focus on the task at hand.
It’s tempting to rush through things or seek shortcuts, but just as Sara’s meticulous work ensured a great outcome for our teeth, our best successes often come when we approach challenges with precision, patience, and attention to detail.
And just like our time with Sara, the process can be enjoyable when we engage fully in the moment.
Whether it’s work, relationships, or personal goals, taking a little extra time to focus and adjust carefully can make all the difference.
And who knows?
You might even find some fun and joy in the process!
What area of your life could use a ‘clean and polish’ to make it shine?

Steady Effort

Since returning to Scotland in the summer, I’ve had a few projects on the go.
One of them, writing a daily devotional book has dominated a lot of my time…and I mean lots!
I’m especially grateful through for a number of returned missionaries who have helped in the due process, gathering content, editing and keeping me on track.
I’ve particularly enjoyed the regular check ins with our Project Manager – Emily Hodder, where we have talked about progress being made!
Thank you one and all!
I’ve learned that writing a book is no easy task, but hopefully in the end it will be worth it.

Do one small thing

Steady consistent effort is key, simply by doing one small thing.

By embracing the principle of “by the inch, it’s a cinch; by the yard, it’s hard,” the task became not only manageable but deeply fulfilling.
Tackling a daunting task all at once can feel overwhelming for all of us, but dividing it into smaller, achievable portions has made it much easier.
Each day, I committed to writing or editing a small portion.
Sometimes a paragraph, other times just refining a sentence.
These small but steady steps have brought me closer to my goal.
A few minutes of focused effort might seem insignificant in the moment, but over time, these moments compound into something quite remarkable.
As the days add up, so does my progress.
I’ve learned that writing a book becomes less about monumental bursts of creativity and more about cultivating a rhythm of perseverance.
I have also learned that first drafts are often messy!
Yet, a book grows word, by word and eventually they all add up!
Now we are in touching distance of having a final manuscript to submit to the publishers, hopefully by the end of this year.
This idea of breaking big goals into smaller steps—applies to more than just writing.
Whether you’re tackling a fitness goal, starting a new career, or organising your home, the power of steady effort is transformative.
My biggest lesson: Daily effort, no matter how small, can transform daunting challenges into achievable successes.
The journey to write this book has reminded me that success isn’t about grand gestures but daily perseverance.
What goal could you achieve if you simply took it one inch at a time?

Paying the Price

It is my experience that we do not achieve things of value in our lives, unless we are willing to pay a price.
“𝑷𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆” is an abiding principle that highlights the reality that anything of value requires 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.
Whether it’s personal success, financial stability, or meaningful relationships, achieving these goals usually always comes with a price.
This “price” often refers to the time, energy, and persistence we invest to reach our aspirations.
Last week, I was invited for an interview with a leadership development company in which I was to give a presentation, provide some training and respond to several questions for a new associate relationship.
Subsequently, I paid the price in many hours of preparation beforehand.
Time will tell if I put in sufficient effort to secure the role.
A PhD student does not succeed academically, unless time and effort are put into study and research.
An Olympic athlete does not win a gold medal, unless time and effort are put into years of preparation for that final moment.
Long-term success isn’t handed out freely.
Someone who excels in their career likely spent years honing their skills, making sacrifices, and pushing through obstacles.
The success of a PhD student or an Olympic gold medallist often conceals the countless hours of practice, setbacks, and failures they endured along the way.

Consistency

Achieving significant results requires not just an initial burst of energy, but consistent effort over time.
The process of paying the price builds character.
It teaches patience, resilience, and a strong work ethic.
Challenges too, faced along the way foster personal growth, helping us learn from mistakes and become better equipped to handle future difficulties.
Superficial engagement in something seldom brings a deep satisfaction, measurable growth or meaningful results.
It requires us to put in our very best efforts.
In summary, nothing of true value comes without a cost.
Whether in business, relationships, or personal development, paying the price is an essential step in attaining lasting success and fulfilment.
Think about your current challenge…
Are you paying the price and putting in enough effort?

Step by Step

The dictionary says that to walk means to move along on foot or advance by steps.
In life, people take many kinds of walks.
As we walk, we advance 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑.
The greatest of life’s rewards coming from walking along the right paths.
Jesus Christ recommended the strait and narrow way that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14).
We are encouraged to become like Him, “to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6).
Becoming like Jesus Christ will not happen in an instant, it happens gradually, 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑.
He will guide us in our walk, at the right speed, in the right direction.
As we walk, we learn to control our thoughts and behaviour.
It takes time, maybe even an entire lifetime and beyond.
It requires daily work and daily effort.
Small steps in the right direction can sometimes turn out to be the biggest steps in our life.
All it takes, is one small step.
Becoming like Him is a slow, steady, and sure process.
The Apostle Paul taught, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Having faith in Jesus Christ will help us move forward, even if we’re unsure of the next step.
Step by step, inspiration will come.
Step 1, say to yourself, “I can follow Him.”
Step 2, speak to a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It is a process you can start today, one step at a time.
Answers are only one step away.

Diligence!

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭?” asked the missionary…
We agreed upon a definition that diligence was someone who was steady, consistent, earnest, had zeal and energetic effort.
We also agreed that diligence implies that we really care about whatever it is we are doing.
To be diligent takes some effort.
I considered the opposites for a moment, negligent, lazy, careless, idle.
The scriptures are filled with references to diligence or being diligent.
One of my favourites is found in Moroni 9:6, when Mormon counselled his son Moroni saying: “Let us labour diligently…. For we have a labour to perform…”
I thought for a moment about the labours I have to perform, and am I diligent in performing them?
What labours do you have to perform?
As a father, as a mother, as a brother, as a sister, as a son, or as a daughter?
As an employer, as an employee, as a volunteer, as a missionary?
At home, in the workplace, in the community or in the mission field?
“He who labours diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labour.” – Mark Water.
Diligence is a prized possession that I hope we all want to have in our lives.
How does a lazy person transition to being diligent?
In my experience, there is usually some kind of a wake-up call, a painful experience perhaps, that opened their eyes to the trouble their lazy ways have reaped.
I hope that you haven’t had too many wake up calls in life and choose to be diligent!
Are you diligent?

Armed with Righteousness

“Can we get a light sabre photo?” asked Elizabeth Anderson.
Following a crunching tackle whilst playing football on P-day, she ended up with a badly sprained ankle, some support bandaging, and a pair of crutches.
Elizabeth has quite an imagination, so, arming ourselves for our light sabre battle was fun.
There are, however, many battles in our life’s that are not quite so fun.
Daily we see real life battles played out in war torn cities in Ukraine.
Other personal battles can take the form of; financial difficulties, relationship issues, career pressures, inner battles with doubts, mental health anxieties, testimony concerns, abuse, insecurities, trauma, fear, bullying, parenthood issues, and many more.
What battles are you facing now?
How do you overcome your personal battles?
“The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself, the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us, that’s where it’s at.” Jesse Owens.
Winning those battles oftentimes takes extra effort.

Extra Effort

For me, the extra effort comes through self-reflection, slowing down daily, connecting with the divine part of myself, renewing my spiritual strength through prayer, scripture study and treasuring up the words of God.
Spiritual strength comes through faith, obedience, and repentance.
Neil L. Andersen said. “As you arm yourself for battle, your protection comes from God, who is our Father. You have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you take His name upon [you].”
He goes on to say, “While the battle rages, we need not fear. The Lord will help you, your family, and others you love who need special help. We know the outcome. The Saviour will triumph over all!”
I know personally that it is through our conversion to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and by following Him, that brings happiness, peace, real joy, and a bright hope for the future.
In Isaiah 41:10 we read, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Recently, I spoke about being “armed with righteousness” – 1 Nephi 14:14.
To survive the battles of our day, arming ourselves with light sabres would be nice if they were real, but the reality of our battles requires us to consider one of our greatest allies of all – even Jesus Christ.
He will help us to overcome all our battles and ultimately provide the greatest victory of all by defeating the sting of death, through His glorious resurrection.

Choose to Play

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲!
“𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡…𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧!? – 𝐍𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞!”
Why me? Perhaps the better question is why not me?
All too frequently as a teenager – that’s where I found myself in the High School Basketball team. I just wanted to play in the game.
I wanted a jersey, I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines – I simply wanted to play!
In my youthfulness and eagerness to play, long hours of practice and effort eventually paid off, and I became a regular starter – playing constantly.
I learned too, that sometimes when you are not playing well, the coach can take you out of the game.
Similarly in life, I want to be where the action is.
Sitting on the sidelines is just not for me.
At home, at work, in the community I need to be involved, I need to play, to make a difference.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes said “It is required of a man that he share the action and the passion of his time at the peril of being judged not to have lived.”
Whatever it is that is most important in your life…
– choose to be engaged
– choose to participate
– choose to practice and expend the effort
– choose to get involved
– choose to make a difference
Decide now to get up off the bench, move from the sidelines and into the field of action – 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚!
What will you choose to do today?

Talents

“Would you like to play something on the piano?” I asked.
Yesterday, before going out to eat at a local pannekoekenhuis, we had a visit at home from our sister missionaries.
I know that Samantha Greenhalgh has been gifted with a wonderful talent and loves to play the piano. So, I pointed out some music sheets and invited her to take a seat. Seconds later, the room was filled with a beautiful melody. She chose not to select any of the music, rather play something from memory that was elegant and pleasing.
The short musical interlude lasted only a few minutes, but it brought peace and joy to those who were able to sit and listen for those few moments in time. I even captured a little smile from Samantha too! 😊
Each of us have been blessed with different talents, gifts and abilities by our Heavenly Father. We have the responsibility to develop the talents that we have been given. Listening to her play the piano yesterday, it was very evident that Samantha has devoted many hours to developing her talent.
– What talents have you been gifted with?
– Have you discovered them yet?
Spending time to develop your talents, through practice, regular effort and sharing, are key principles to allow it to grow.
Consider the talents you have been blessed with and who knows, it may not be too long before you’ll be sat playing the piano, or even winning an Olympic medal!
Go on, give it a go!

Perfect Pizza!

“It’s the centrifugal force” I said, as my daughter Cristi gave me a bit of a strange look!

In attempting to make home made pizza at the weekend for the first time ever, I learned a lot about the key ingredients and the due process of making the dough. Both are essential for perfect pizza.

The Ingredients

Strong plain flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, warm water and a little warm milk mixed together create a perfect dough.

Then the fun begins.

Kneading the dough on a well floured surface for 5 minutes creates a smooth and slightly tacky texture. Then, you pop the ball of dough into a bowl, cover it with a wet cloth, leave it for 90 minutes, allowing it to rise to perfection.

Time to knock back the dough.

Gently lifting the dough out from the bowl, kneading it again, then leaving it for another 45 minutes to rest a while. The passage of time is key.

Now, roller in hand, it was time to roll out the dough.

The first two bases were impressive and I determined not to toss the dough, frightened that I’d make a mess of my perfect creation! However, on the third base, after watching a “how to throw dough” video,  I incorporated the toss into my routine. Gently balancing the rolled dough on my fingertips, I tossed it into the air, with a gentle rotating spin action at the same time and capturing it again on the back of my hand.  Performing this action three times, allowed centrifugal force to stretch out the pizza base to perfection!

Adding on the toppings, making sure the oven was on full blast, pizza trays were already hot and getting the oven timings right were crucial finishing touches.

The result.  Perfect Pizza’s!

However, it has to be said, although Pizza’s 1 & 2 were good, adding in the toss for Pizza 3, made the difference between good and great!

In my allegory filled mind, there are dozens of pictures forming about this due process.  There are multiple comparisons to be made and lessons to be learned.  Time, ingredients, process, heat, practice, that little extra toss.

What allegories come to mind for you?

To move from good to great, sometimes you just have to throw in that little extra…. (toss!)

Now to do it all again, this time Gluten Free!