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I decided to 10X my goal. It started out as just simply posting a quote everyday to social media that was meaningful to me over the course of 30 days.
Then I heard the concept of 10Xing your goal. When I applied that to my goal of 30 quotes posted to social media over 30 days it became 300 quotes over a period of 300 days.
That turned into an even 365 quotes over 365 days. One year!
It was a few months before the end of 2021 that this idea came to me while pondering one morning. I wanted to add value to the world around me.
I wondered if I would be able to gather 365 quotes that revolve around the concept that we all have circumstances. Our circumstances are others around us, family members, ward members, colleagues in the work place, who we serve with and all the things around us like cars, mountains, animals, etc. I think you get the point.
Many times we think that our circumstances are creating the results we’re getting in our lives.
What is really going on is that we experience our circumstances and we have a thought, perspective, story or an opinion about our circumstances.
That thought creates a feeling which will fuel our actions or inactions. Once we do or don’t do something we get a result.
We have control over what we do or don’t do.
We can control our feelings because they are created by our thoughts.
We can control our thoughts.
So ultimately it’s not our circumstances creating the results of our lives. The results we are getting are based on what we are thinking and believing about our circumstances or situation.
That is very good news because whatever result we’re getting in our lives right now doesn’t have to stay that way. We have the power and ability to change the results we are getting right now.
As I set out to gather quotes from the scriptures and church leaders that revolve around the concept that we can control the results we are getting in our lives I discovered that the topic is much more common than I thought.
Within several weeks I gathered more than 365 quotes. I was able to find 390 quotes.
I decided on posting one a day to Instagram. You can find me at https://www.instagram.com/enduringaction/
My desire is to add value to your life. If you find them of value I hope that you share them with your friends. I would ask that you share them with your bishop.
I also have a desire to help bishops of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have an amazing experience while they serve in that capacity. They probably don’t know I exist but you do. And you can connect us together by sharing this with them.
I am a life coach for bishops of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, their wives as well as ward council members that work directly with the bishop.
I have created a small booklet to help you intentionally apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You can download it for free at the link below. Just input your email and you will get it for free.
Lord, I Believe. Help Thou Mine Unbelief.
“Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Mark 9:24
You have been called to a leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Did it come as a surprise or did you always believe that you would be called to a position of leadership?
Maybe you had a similar experience to mine. I had, in the back of my mind, that I would be called to serve as a bishop someday. I tried to chase the thought out of my mind because the culture of the Church is to not aspire to any calling in the Church.
It wasn’t until after I was called to serve as bishop that Paul helped me understand what the Spirit was trying to teach me. Paul said in 1 Timothy 3:1 “This is a true saying, If a man desires the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”
Aspire and desire are not the same thing.
At the time I was mixed up and believed that just thinking of serving in a leadership position was aspiring to the position. I did not aspire to the calling and office of bishop but I did live my life in a way that allowed the Lord to guide me and my family until I was called to serve as a bishop.
I believed and also did not believe I would serve as bishop. Once I was called I knew that I would serve as bishop. There was no more belief. I knew because it was happening.
The Savior helped a man with his unbelief when He encountered a great multitude and saw that his disciples were being questioned by the scribes.
A father among the crowd had a son that had a dumb spirit. He took his son to the disciples to cast him out but they could not. The father brought his son to Jesus.
Jesus said unto him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
Did you catch it? The father wanted to believe that Jesus could cast the dumb spirit from his son. He just experienced the disciples failing to accomplish that request. When I read this I understood that he did not believe that it could be done, however, his desire to believe and his desire to help his son was greater than his belief that it could not be done. In other words, his desire to help his son was greater than his unbelief.
He followed through and allowed Jesus to help his unbelief. Jesus cast out the dumb and deaf spirit. The father witnessed it. He no longer believed or disbelieved, he knew it because he witnessed it.
You have been called to a leadership position in the Lord’s Church which is His kingdom here on earth.
Do you believe that He called you? Do you believe that you have been called at exactly the right time to have stewardship and minister to those around you? Do you believe that the Lord called you because you have special talents that He will use to build up those around you? Do you believe it?
What, in your life, don’t you believe and want help believing? Another way to ask this question is what do you believe that you don’t want to believe?
Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, (that’s you) and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.
Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you–yea when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your Fathers, O house of Israel.” Ether 4:13-15
We all have a veil of unbelief. In my case I have many.
If you did not have a veil of unbelief then you would have already received the second comforter. You would have already seen Jesus and He would have personally ministered unto you as He did the brother of Jared.
Your veil of unbelief is what you believe that keeps you from coming unto Christ. It is also what you don’t believe that God wants you to believe.
If you don’t know what you don’t believe ask the Father in sincere prayer and He will reveal it to you by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Once you know what you don’t believe you can get to work on rending the veil of unbelief.
How?
You can do it the same way King Lamoni began to rend the veil of his unbelief when Ammon preached unto him the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He cried “unto the Lord saying, ‘Oh Lord, have mercy according to thy abundant mercy…upon me’” Alma 18:41
You probably won’t “fall unto the earth as if [you] were dead for the space of two days and two nights”. You probably won’t stink. Your family probably won’t start preparing for your funeral.
What you can do intentionally is visualize yourself having a conversation with Jesus. You can ask Him to rend the veil of your unbelief.
When you do this you can expect Jesus to reveal to you, by the power of the Holy Ghost, those beliefs which you must stop believing. When you stop believing the satanic whispering(s) you have heard, you will begin to believe something else.
Since Satan is the exact opposite of Jesus Christ, he probably told you a lie that was in complete contrast to the light.
I was once in complete despair because I thought, after an experience with a sister that had a panic attack and PTSD because of a conversation we had, that “I ruined her.” When I was struggling in this despair I asked Heavenly Father to show me the truth of it. He revealed to my mind, “You helped her.”
See the difference?
I ruined her is 100% opposite to the light that the Holy Ghost revealed to me that I helped her.
How do I know this is true? Because as soon as this was revealed to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, and I believed it,
I was filled with an immense feeling of peace and joy that filled my soul, my spirit and body.
Ammon “knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness–yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that…he was carried away in God.” Alma 19:6
What is your veil of unbelief? Are you ready to rend the veil of your unbelief? Are you ready to begin to believe the light that will be revealed to you by the power of the Holy Ghost?
President David O. McKay gave a talk in the Priesthood Session of General Conference in April 1967 called “Consciousness of God: Supreme Goal of Life”.
I believe President McKay, the prophet at the time, teaches us how to have an experience as king Lamoni did. I will share a few quotes from his talk.
He then goes on to say, “I think we pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion. In our worship, there are two elements: One is spiritual communion arising from our own meditation; the other, instruction from others, particularly from those who have authority to guide and instruct us. Of the two, the more profitable introspectively is meditation.”
As you practice the skill of meditating in the Lord’s way you will have experiences that will draw you closer to Him in no other way. You will draw near unto Him so that He can draw near unto you. He will be your teacher. He will show you your veil of unbelief. He will help you rend your veil of unbelief.
If you want help practicing rending your veil of unbelief please feel free to download my free PDF booklet, “How to Intentionally Apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
Enduring action; all the way to the end! Why? How? Because He is with you to the end.
Endure means to last; to continue in the same state without perishing; to remain; to abide.
Action means an act; a deed.
Enduring action means to continue doing without perishing.
I was on the last 11 miles of a 50K foot race to the top of Pinal Mountain. I had already climbed more than 4,300’ and 17.5 miles to Pinal Peak with consistent ease. I was now on my way down through the foothills of the Pinal Mountains to downtown Globe, AZ. My body began to give out. My knees ached with the most excruciating pain I had ever felt.
I could no longer run. I chose to walk to feel relief.
I had a great desire to finish and knew I would finish. Although the question still floated around in the back of my mind with every painful step, “What if I don’t finish?”
I am reminded of the wisdom that King Benjamin taught his people. “See that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man run faster than he has strength.” Mosiah 4:27
Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “Many persons, in dealing with the pressures of life, have developed their own ways of handling stress and ‘people fatigue.’ I offer some confirmation and encouragement for them to continue pacing themselves. Those who have worked out things reasonably well likely are aligned with scriptural counsel.”
I wanted to finish in a particular timeframe. Please know, I am a regular runner and had run my 8th marathon several months before. In my training for this run, I ran to the top of Flat Iron (5 Miles and 2,676’ Elevation Gain) several times before the race. The problem is that I wanted to accomplish something in a timeframe that was not reasonable because my longest training run was only 8 miles.
And to think of it. I wanted to run 31 miles in a specific timeframe that was not realistic. I had not trained properly for a 50K foot race with nearly 6,300’ of elevation gain and 6,000’ of elevation loss. I did not maintain the appropriate distance in my training. I had not “worked out things reasonably well” beforehand.
Do you ever feel urgency to complete a task in a timeframe that is unrealistic for you?
We are both in the same boat and possibly with the Prophet Joseph Smith. “A revelation was given to [him] at a time when he must have been exceedingly anxious to finish the important and urgent translation of the Book of Mormon.”
The Lord told him, “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end” (D&C 10:4).
It is not hard to finish a 50K foot race. It is actually quite easy. It’s as easy as walking to the mailbox and back. It is merely putting one foot in front of another. It does, however, require a great deal of effort. Actually, it requires much more effort than walking to the mailbox and back.
- Enduring action can be done until you accomplish the work at hand.
- Enduring action requires faith which is a principle of action.
- Enduring action requires a belief and a hope that it will get done. It does NOT mean to “run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable” you.
- Enduring action is to “be diligent unto the end.”
- Enduring action requires consistent movement.
- Enduring action requires flexibility in pace, speed, and gait.
Each step will be different along the path and different from those running in the same race. Some steps will be great strides. Some steps will require technical footwork as you run along a stony path. Some steps will require you to slow down as you climb uphill. Some steps will require great mental exertion as you painfully move forward.
Enduring action is required to accomplish the work you have been called to do. What is the result of being faithful and accomplishing that work? The Lord “will crown the faithful with joy and with rejoicing.” D&C 52:43
My family was waiting for me at the end. They were literally 20 feet away on the other side of the finish line. I felt like a rockstar passing through the finish line with my wife and kids cheering and running up to me, surrounding me, and hugging me as we jumped in unison. I felt great joy and rejoiced in that accomplishment.
What is your 50K that you have been called to complete? There is no need for urgency, only acting in faith, trusting that through consistent action the work will get done.
How do you get it all done?
Here is a simple outline of how to get anything done.
Make a list of everything you want to get done.
Pick one thing to get done.
Why do you want to do this?
When will you get it done?
Make a list of everything you have to do to get it done.
Make a list of all of the obstacles that will keep you from getting it done.
What will you do to overcome each obstacle you face?
Track your progress until it gets done.
Allow yourself to feel the joy that comes from the accomplishment and remember to celebrate. But, not too long. There is more to do…if you want.
Rinse and repeat for the next thing you want to accomplish.
For those of you that I am currently coaching and for those of you who I will be coaching I repeat the words that Mormon wrote to his son, Moroni, to you.
Enduring action; all the way to the end! Why? How? Because the Lord says, “I am with [you] to the end.” D&C 24:10
If you want help applying the Principle of Enduring Action in your life please feel free to download my free PDF Booklet, “How to Intentionally Apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ”.
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