This is probably the most important question you could ever ask. The answer will determine how fast you advance in your career and, more importantly, how happy you are in your job. Many of us have had to figure it out the hard way—by trial and error.

The secret to staying on top of your personal and professional life is to schedule regular times for review and reflection. You need to assess where you’ve come from and where you are going.

In his book, Getting Things Done he writes: If you’re like me and most people, no matter how good your intentions may be, you’re going to have the world come at you faster than you can keep up…. We book ourselves in back to back meetings all day, go to after-hours events and generate ideas and commitments we need to deal with, and get embroiled in engagements and projects that have the potential to spin our creative intelligence into cosmic orbits…. If the item requires me to take action, I can:  Do it if it takes less than two minutes or add it to my Outlook task list to do later;Defer it by actually scheduling a time on my calendar to deal with it; orDelegate it to someone else for action and enter it into my Outlook task list using the “@WaitingFor” category.

Every now and then we are reminded how fragile life is. You just can’t take it for granted. For example, a few years ago I was attending the early service at our church. My family was coming in a separate car and had not yet arrived. About ten minutes into the service, one of my friends walked up behind me and whispered in my ear, “Mike, your family has been in a car accident. You need to leave … now!”

One key to leadership is the willingness to stand up and take responsibility for your mistakes. Good leaders do this even if they are guilty of 10% of the accusation or problem.

Recently, I wrote a post entitled Why the Bestsellers Lists Are Inaccurate. I followed this up a few days later with another post on the same topic entitled Toward a Better Bestsellers List. Andy Butcher, the editor of Christian Retailing magazine, read the posts. He then sent me an email with several questions. I agreed to answer them, provided I could do so on my blog.

I spend more hours in meetings than out. Perhaps you do, too. Over the years, I have cataloged a list of annoying meeting behaviors or just “AMBs” for short. None of these by themselves are that bothersome. But when you combine three or four of them in the same meeting, it can test the patience of Job.

The ability to sell an idea or project to your boss is critical to your success. If you can’t get your boss’s approval when you need it, you are not going to go very far in your career.

I have argued for years that, “It’s the product, Stupid.” The secret to success in any business is to deliver a great, compelling product. No amount of marketing savvy, salesmanship, or operational excellence can overcome a weak product.

He said, “View this list as the ten disciplines that if practiced faithfully would make the biggest impact on the quality of your life for the upcoming year.”… Daily, first thing when I get up 2 Prayer Pray for my life, my family, my church, my work, etc. Daily, on my commute into the office or, on the weekends, immediately after reading the Bible 3 Aerobic Exercise Run 4–5 miles, four days a week…. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 5:30 a.m. 8 Life Plan Review Review my written life plan (a seven-page document) Weekly, on Sunday evening with my weekly review 9 Solo Retreats Get off-site for 36 hours a quarter to review my business vision, business plan, master task list, and time block.