Q: It’s hard to say if my life is changing for the better. How can I tell?

A: First, our practice of morning and evening gongyo is the foundation for advancing on the correct path of life—a path aligned with the Law that pervades the three existences of past, present and future—leading the most meaningful existence. Especially important, as the phrase “morning after morning we rise up with the Buddha” indicates, is doing an invigorating morning gongyo.

Failing to win in the morning can lead to an unsatisfactory day. And an unending succession of such days can add up to an unsatisfying life. On the other hand, winning in the morning, getting off to a good start, leads to a productive day and puts you on a path to solid progress, ultimately culminating in a life of fulfillment and victory.

That’s why it’s so important to win in the morning and get the day off to a refreshing start. This is something young people, especially, should challenge, for it is a source of victory and growth in all spheres. …

Small things matter. Right or wrong, small things accumulate and lead to a major difference in the results. That’s why the best way to achieve your important future goals is to pay careful attention to your minor daily challenges and triumph in each one of them.

Nichiren Daishonin writes, “If a person cannot manage to cross a moat ten feet wide, how can he cross one that is a hundred or two hundred feet?” (“The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 766). Small challenges, small successes, repeated again and again, become great victories and flower into a life of glorious success. (The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, pp. 223–26)