The feeling that comes when you know you’re doing all that you can. When you know that you’re applying yourself wholly to a task, to a mission, to a goal. Anything less and the seeds of doubt and that ominous feeling take hold–that lurking knowledge that you’re doing less, that you’re settling for less, that you are less than you can be.

The solution is simple, but that does not mean it is easy. It’s hard to pour it on. It takes persistence, it takes patience, and demands that utmost sincerity of focus. Yet it is like most things: difficult to start, but once you get getting, momentum and confidence accrue and growth takes an upward curve. So, too, with the daily task of consciously asking yourself whether you’re doing all that you can, whether you are really on track, whether you’re really not letting any area of your life slide. There’s a degree of deliberateness we can try to integrate into such daily disciplines: to be conscious of the things that most people are not aware of. And to be aware of our own progress, to not kid ourselves, to love ourselves enough to be honest and sincere in our evaluation of our actions day by day, is to stop living aimlessly and to start a journey that directs our energy to a single point rather than broad ambiguity.

The point is what pierces the tough armor of adversity. Awareness of the self, appreciation of one’s abilities, and the courage to see them put to full use. Such is the beginning of progress.