One of the biggest reasons many of us struggle to adopt the methods and mindsets that give us the best chances for success is that we get distracted by all the wonderful opportunities that come our way. In fact, I often think the only thing harder than trying to have everything is trying to do everything — even when everything seems so good.

Discipline, I’ve discovered, isn’t just about rejecting time-wasting activities in favor of the things that matter. More often, and more challenging, it’s the good things that distract us from pursuing the better things. So effective discipline sets our agendas, allowing us to reduce or eliminate some things from our schedules. By saying “no” even to things we enjoy or that provide some benefit, we can say “yes” to things that provide a greater return on our investments.

For instance, consider Frank Bures. In 2010, Frank decided to stay “offline” for one full workday each week. No Internet, thus no surfing of his favorite sites for work or for pleasure; no email; no YouTube, no Twitter, no LinkedIn, and no Facebook.

The first day of his tech-fast was surreal. “It was like finding myself on the moon, staring back at earth,” he wrote in an April 2011 article for The Rotarian magazine. By the end of the day, however, “I felt something that I hadn’t in a long time: a sense of accomplishment,” he wrote. “And when I finally logged on to see what I had missed, I was surprised by the answer: not much.”

Discipline allows us to develop the things we value most; it drives all the processes that create results that set us up for success regardless of the circumstances around us. Are you maximizing the disciplines in your life?

This blog is based on content in my latest book, Up, Down, Or Sideways. It is available wherever you buy great books. Click here to learn more about the book or click here to learn about my other speaking services and learning resources.

I have a great appreciation for professional baseball players, especially the ones who perform consistently over time at the highest level of competition.

Albert Pujols, for instance, hit .313 or better in each of his first 10 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, with at least 32 home runs and nofewer than 103 RBI. And only twice did he play fewer than 154 regular-season games. He might not play for my Rockies, but it’s hard not to admire his consistency and his dedication to excellence.

Like all batters, however, Pujols goes through occasional slumps. In fact, he got off to a horrendous start in 2011. In the 29th game of the season, Pujols went 0-for-5, and his batting average was a very un-Albert-like .252. Do you think Tony La Russa, the Cardinals manager, was concerned?

“He’ll be fine because he’s smart and tough-minded,” La Russa told reporters. “He won’t allow himself to be less than his best.”

La Russa knew Pujols had what it takes to deal with grueling nature of a 162-game season. He can’t avoid slumps, but he knows how to get through them. In other words, there are things Pujols does regardless of whether times are good, bad, or in-between — and those are the things that make him great.

My new book — Up, Down, or Sideways — explores the methods and mindsets that lead to that type of consistent success. Like Pujols, we can’t avoid life’s slumps. But there are things that help us mitigate the downturns, maximize the upturns, and create predictable and persistent success regardless of circumstances.

So much of life is outside our control. Pujols, for instance, can’t control the weather; sometimes he has to play when it’s raining or cold. He can’t control the umpires; sometimes they call a pitch a strike when he thinks it was a ball. And he can’t control whether a pitcher walks him on purpose or throws an inside curveball or a fastball right over the plate.

Likewise, we can’t control things like the economy or the moods swings of our boss or the strategic planning decisions of our customers and clients. But there are methods and mindsets we can embrace regardless of anything the out-of-our-control world throws our way.

I was inspired to tackle this book project during one of the most challenging periods in my life. The economy was in a deep recession, meaning, through no fault of my own, my business and my personal investments were suffering. And that same year, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Yet I felt incredibly blessed. I knew things could have been worse — much worse. I wondered: What methods and mindsets had I practiced when times were Up or Sideways that were paying dividends now that times were Down? What should I do or keep doing now that times were Down? And what did other successful people do consistently that I could learn from?

Like a professional baseball season, our personal and professional success is measured over the long course of time. There will be slumps. But they don’t have to define us. We’re defined by how we think and act consistently, because those are the things that shape our results. If you read Up, Down, or Sideways, I think you’ll relate to the things I’ve identified. I’m going to blog about some of them over the next few months. And I hope you’ll add to the discussion with your own methods and mindsets that have served you when times were Up, Down, or Sideways.

This blog is based on content in my latest book, Up, Down, Or Sideways. It is available wherever you buy great books. Click here to learn more about the book or click here to order it from Amazon.com.

I often read authors and hear speakers who warn their audiences not to read or watch the news. Why? Because newspapers and news shows are so full of negativity. While this is certainly true, the advice is neither practical nor prudent.

The same folks who say we shouldn’t pay attention to the news do recommend reading lots of positive, upbeat material from self-help books and other sources. While I agree with this recommendation, it doesn’t go far enough.

Leaders need both information and inspiration. Information is basically neutral. We evaluate it and make a value judgment: this is good news or bad news, positive or negative.

If you are a homebuilder, news about housing starts being down isn’t–in your frame of reference–good news. It is, however, important information. Denying the reality doesn’t make it go away.

What’s happening around us shapes our strategies and tactics from operations to pricing to hiring. To ignore reality (much of which is negative) is dangerous. The goal for an effective leader is to be informed, and that requires accurate information that describes reality, both the good and the bad.

Inspiration is what encourages us to constructively use information. Inspiration is both the counterbalance to negativity and the impetus to move forward rather than give up.

Where should you be getting your inspiration? The sources are broad and include classic literature, self-help and religious writings as well as speakers, thought-leaders and clergy.

The danger of information is that we can become overwhelmed by the challenges it conveys and become blind to the opportunities. Orison Swett Marden, one of the earliest writers in the self-help genre, said, “Difficulties are great or small in proportion as you are great or small.” Inspiration wisely acquired and considered equips us to be greater leaders.

Information can create fear but inspiration creates courage.

Information describes what is happening but inspiration determines how we respond.

Information gives us ideas but inspiration is the fuel for acting upon those ideas.

For effective leadership, information and inspiration are inseparable. Information without inspiration can be oppressive but inspiration without information can be foolish. By considering and consuming both, we can become better.

Self absorption is not the same as self reflection.

The former is focused on what it gets, the latter on what it learns.

Being aware of one’s self–the good, the bad and the otherwise–is key to self reflection. We all change over time so we need to reassess regularly to determine if we’re on course and how we can improve.

Self absorption seems to be far more common. From the airline passenger who brags about putting  his knee in the middle of the seat in front of him so another passenger can recline to the person who runs a red light because his or her “hurry” is more important than your safety, many seem obsessed with meeting their needs at any and all costs.

Like the familiar saying says, a person wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.

Interesting, isn’t it, that one antidote to self absorption is self reflection?

You begin each week with many demands on your time, but do you design your week for maximum advantage? In this audio blog you’ll learn the five questions that you should ask at the beginning of each week. Your answers will provide you an agenda that will help you improve your business and your life. Listen here: Five Questions

When you receive negative feedback or experience a disappointment and failure, what can you do to make the most of it? Listen to this audio blog to learn what you can do. 4Ds for dealing with negative feedback or experiences

I’ve been listening to a CD of a panel presentation from a conference I recently attended. The participants were all long-time friends and colleagues in the speaking business. They are all highly successful in their respective fields and I’ve seen great growth in them and their careers over the years.

The insights and perspectives they shared were very valuable and I have benefited from their collective wisdom.

In listening, I was reminded of something very important about highly successful people.

First, they invest regularly and significantly in their own growth.

I know each of these individuals and they have spent serious time and money in seeking out the best resources, whether professional associations, coaches or educational experiences.

Second, they become conduits of what they’ve learned.

Each freely shares what they’ve learned with colleagues and clients. Their exceptional expertise has created great demand for their services. Not only have they profited from their skills and abilities, but they have been willing to help others who desire to do the same.

They have become rivers.

Highly successful people are more concerned with their growth than their comfort; they are more committed to learning than leisure. That means they invest in learning and development.

But they don’t stop there. Not only do they share; they increase their expertise and abilities in the sharing. A wonderful synergy takes place when they help others. People learn from the successful, but the successful learn not just from the people they teach but from the teaching process itself.

The lesson, if you aspire to become and stay successful: be a river.

Over the years I’ve used the following self-assessment to help leaders and high performers grow and improve. The questions are based on five simple words but the answers, arrived at thoughtfully, can provide great insight. I’ve spent hours with participants discussing these as a group, but you can make time to consider. I encourage you to write down your answers.

1. Know What do you know? What are you most confident and certain about? If you had to share the most important lessons you’ve learned with someone you are mentoring, what would you tell them?

2. Sow What do you sow (actions and investments) that create the biggest payoff? What are you regularly doing that creates the most success and fulfillment for you?

3. Tow Are there things you tow–baggage from the past–that you need to let go of? What do you need to quit, release or overcome in your life?

4. Grow How do you grow? What is your program for ongoing personal and professional development?

5. Owe Who do you owe? Make a phone call or write a letter to express gratitude to those who have counseled and encouraged you in your journey.

A discipline is a practice that instructs and produces moral, mental or physical improvement.

Spiritual disciplines are those practices that increase and improve one’s spiritual life. Dallas Willard is a philosophy professor and is currently founding the Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation.  He once wrote something about spiritual disciplines that applies generally as well:

“We can even lay it down as a rule of thumb that if it is easy for us to engage in a certain discipline, we probably don’t need to practice it. The discplines we need to practice are precisely the ones we are not ‘good at’ and hence do not enjoy.”

It makes sense. Something easy to do probably won’t be difficult enough to challenge growth. The areas where we most often need to grow are areas we’d rather not address, and hence those disciplines aren’t enjoyable.

What disciplines would most benefit you in your personal and professional life? Pick a discipline that isn’t easy and isn’t something you’d necessary like to do…but you know will instruct and grow you when you choose to follow it.

“No Limits” sounds like the kind of hyperbole you’d find printed on a tee shirt or baseball cap.

At many levels, however, it is literally true. “No limits” isn’t about bravado and posturing, but about the power of ideas.

Sure, there are the limitations of physical as well as man-made laws. Certainly there can be limiting circumstances and a disequilibrium of resources available to different individuals or nations.

But consider:

Ronald Reagan said, “There are no such things as limits to growth because there are no limits on the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder.”

Paul Romer, economist at Stanford, has profoundly shaped my thinking about growth theory. His new growth theory has effectively turned traditional economics on its head by claiming that physical resources are not the limiting factors of growth; ideas are. And since we will never run out of new ideas, we can effectively overcome the limitations of physical resources.

The quickest way to bankruptcy isn’t to run out of money; it is to run out of ideas.