This month, I was thinking how people become great.

From spectacular athletes to powerful thinkers, certain people have found a distinct formula for success.

So…what is it? What is the secret, powerful method that got them to the top? More and more, I read that greatness is found only after being…boring.

By boring, I mean the discipline to work. Every day — rain or shine. For a long, long time.

It’s neither glamorous nor easy nor fast. It’s a deep and enduring commitment to your craft. Small steps in a thousand mile journey.

Tom Clancy put it well: “An overnight success is ten years in the making.”

Here are a few examples of boring greatness that continue to inspire me:

Recently, I caught myself drifting — lost in memories of the past and thoughts of the future.

The past is both comforting but haunting. You’ve gone through it, and you already know what’s happened. And like a highlight reel, you can spend hours looking over your own footage. I spent a lot of time thinking on how to edit and adjust my footage. I was caught in a reminiscence of everything behind me.

The future is exciting but fickle. You’ve never gone through it, and you have don’t know what’s going to happen. And like a movie trailer, you can spend hours planning out your new footage. I spent a lot of time trying to direct and prepare scenes yet to come. I was caught in a rapture of everything ahead of me.

But I soon realized, I was losing touch with today. Bit by bit, it was getting washed away by the past and the future.

Could I do anything to experience a richer, fuller present?

A few things have helped me keep presence in the present: