“We … have a bar that we try to strive to be above on as many days as possible, and just stack those days above that bar and see where that lands us,” said Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault in a 2023 interview. The team won almost half their games that season. Their 40 regular season wins were a significant 16-win improvement over the year before.

Stacking is a term that permeates the Thunder organization. It’s a day-by-day strategy to focus on the immediate steps that build toward ultimate success. “‘Stacking days’ is a concept that emphasizes the power of consistency and small, daily efforts to achieve significant long-term goals. The core idea is that major success is not built through occasional grand gestures, but by ‘stacking’ one productive or positive day on top of another, much like building a tower one brick at a time” (“Stacking Days,” medium.com).

For Thunder players, stacking means striving for high standards daily—in strength and conditioning, nutrition, team drills, individual skill sessions, game day preparations, even in their positive interactions with the public.

Effective stacking for us is different. Each day we must strive for quality prayer and study, coupled with meaningful meditation. We ought to maintain a positive mental attitude that is a blessing in all our interactions. We must walk by faith and exercise self-discipline and patience, keeping our mind and heart motivated by spiritual interests. We must make the most of our time, work hard, and serve God’s cause.

One year later, coach Daigneault said, “Any time you want to accomplish anything, you have a big goal. If you want to accomplish that goal you have to start peeling back the layers of how you ladder up to that goal. And where you always end up is in the present moment. … You’re going to have to draw it all the way down to today, this moment, this opportunity. It doesn’t mean we’re not focused on winning, but we understand the ingredients that go into team success, and that’s why we’ve tried to emphasize stacking.” In 2024, the Thunder surged to 57 regular season wins and became the youngest team ever to secure a playoff series.

The next year, the team soared to 68 regular season victories and went 12 and 4 through the Western Conference playoffs. Players and staff scooped up seasonal awards. But a sprightly Indiana Pacers unit stood in the way of the Thunder’s first championship. During the 2025 Finals, Daigneault reiterated his commitment to his daily strategy: “[I]f you want to accomplish anything, you have to stack it. If you want to accomplish any goal, it starts with what you can do today to step towards that goal. We’ve tried to take a stacking mindset to everything we’ve done.”

Four days later, the Thunder were crowned nba champions.

Stacking works. We can use it too. Let’s examine a method we can use to evaluate ourselves to ensure our daily efforts will lead to achieving the ultimate spiritual goal.

Daily Analysis

In 1941, while the world was embroiled in war and the Work of God was surging ahead, Herbert W. Armstrong penned a set of personal daily questions in a February 14 Co-Worker Bulletin.

These questions force an honest evaluation of our daily activity. They cover the spiritual expectations God has for us each day. Evaluating ourselves by these questions at the end of each day keeps the standard high in our thinking. Honestly answered, these questions accelerate growth, expose areas to improve, and deepen our relationship with God each day. Whether our day was good or lackluster, this self-examination process motivates us to live the next day right.

“In a way, each day is like a little lifetime—and God wants us to make the most of it,” wrote Joel Hilliker. “Each waking day He wants us to forge a relationship with Him. Each day He wants us to grow in character. Each day He wants us to learn to love others. Each day He wants us to work hard and to redeem the time, because once we fall asleep, our character development stops. How are you and I using today? We need to ask ourselves that each day” (Royal Vision, May-June 2009).

By measuring ourselves against these questions every day, we monitor how well we stack one good day after another. Stacking works—it produces champions.

Habits of Great Men

Five days before Mr. Armstrong published these questions, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his war-time speech “Give Us the Tools.” Addressing President Roosevelt and the American people in a London radio broadcast, he said, “In wartime there is a lot to be said for the motto: ‘Deeds, not words.’ All the same, it is a good thing to look around from time to time and take stock ….”

We are in spiritual war. There is a correlation between action and success. A good soldier of Jesus Christ is proactive. He eschews the dangers of the world. He strives to please God who has called him to fight. He takes stock of his growth and masters the self, knowing no crown awaits if he doesn’t align himself with God’s law (2 Timothy 2:5-7).

“We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire,” Churchill concluded. “Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”

These 10 daily questions are a tool to help us take stock of our progress. By stacking effective days together, we will help God finish His good work in us.

Interestingly, Churchill monitored his own productivity daily and held himself to a high standard of action. “Every night, I try myself by Court Martial to see if I have done anything effective during the day,” he said. “I don’t mean just pawing the ground—anyone can go through the motions—but something really effective.”

High achievers measure themselves regularly. They are honest about their growth and where they need to improve.

“I’ve decided that I’m going to have to do somewhat like Winston Churchill,” Gerald Flurry told the ministry in June 2006. “Each day he’d try to evaluate how effective he was, at the end of the day. Whether it was a day where he really did accomplish something, or he didn’t. … [M]y goal is at the end of each day I’m going to ask myself, ‘How effectively did I love God’s law today? Where did I succeed? Where did I fail? How much did I love God’s law today?’ Do you know what that translates into? How much you love God.”

Make it Happen

At the end of his 10 questions, Mr. Armstrong wrote: “Wherefore, let a man examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28). Self-examination is an important point of emphasis prior to keeping the Passover, but it needs to be part of our daily life also.

Asking ourselves these questions does not add a burdensome task to our life. The questions themselves are not asking us to take on any new exercises we don’t have time for. Everything these questions ask are something we ought to do, and what we sincerely want to do each day, and will in most cases be something we are already doing.

Don’t let a bad day derail this routine. Prior to conversion, Mr. Armstrong’s productivity was sporadic. His side of the family had a reputation for lacking perseverance. But he faced such challenges head on. “In those days I worked sporadically in streaks,” he wrote in the Autobiography. “I seemed to have my ‘off’ days and my ‘on’ days. … I became very uncomfortably aware of this great fault, and I tried to fight it, but it took me years to overcome it. But I did overcome it eventually.”

Practically, how do we do this? We can simply review this list every day. Some have them on bookmarks they keep in their Bibles. Another great method is to use a habit tracker—either in a journal or on an app. For each question you could take a pass or fail approach, or maybe even score yourself with a system of your preference: e.g. 0 = fail; 1 = partial effort; 2 = good but not great; 3 = success! However you choose to implement it, don’t make it so complicated that it deters you from following through each day. It’s not a checkbox ritual. The value is in the meaning of the questions and your analysis.

Spiritually, the only way any of us can ever achieve a “perfect score” on a given day is by “having contact with, and the guidance and continuous help of, God!” (The Seven Laws of Success). Asking these questions daily shows us the areas of our life where we need more of God’s guidance and help.

King David wrote, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24). “Pray to God: Search me! Seek out God’s scrutiny, measuring and correction,” Mr. Flurry writes. “The more we do, the more we will be thanking Him—because we will be purged of self-righteousness and our lives will be so much better” (The Psalms of David and the Psalter of Tara; emphasis added).

With God’s help we can build the daily habit of asking ourselves these questions. With His help we can see ourselves for who we are and see each day for what it truly was. Each day we do, we are stacking—ensuring our daily efforts will lead to achieving the ultimate spiritual goal.

Sidebar: Ten Daily Questions

Here are Mr. Armstrong’s 10 questions, with a scriptural reference or two added for further study:

Did I awake spiritual, in a happy, prayerful attitude, and was I watchful to keep my mind from wandering this morning? (Psalm 5:3; Matthew 26:41).

Have I, this day, kept my mind clean, my thoughts and contemplations on “the things above,” in continuous happy, positive, prayerful attitude? (2 Corinthians 10:5; Colossians 3:2).

Have I, as a “babe in Christ,” partaken three times today of spiritual food, by submissive Bible study and earnest prayer alone with God? Have I grown closer to God? Have I grown today in grace and knowledge? (Psalm 55:17; Acts 17:11; 2 Peter 3:18).

Have I walked by faith, asking God for wisdom and guidance in all things, committing every little problem to Him, trusting Him with it? (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Have I exercised self-discipline, denying impulse, doing what God’s Word shows I ought to do instead of what I wanted to do? (Psalm 119:9).

Was my speech and conversation today kind, cheerful, soft? (Proverbs 16:24; Ephesians 4:29).

Have I exercised patience today? Have I been charitable toward others, showing tolerance and love, or resentment, jealousy and anger? (1 Corinthians 16:14).

Have I, while putting spiritual interests first, been diligent in performing regular material duties today, doing my very best? (Colossians 3:1-2, 23-24).

Have I made the most of my time, or been weakened by unwatchfulness? (Revelation 3:2; Mark 14:38).

What have I done for God’s Work and for others? Have I spent anything today to please self that might have been saved for God’s cause? (Isaiah 55:2; 1 Timothy 6:10).