Study the lives of highly successful people from any corner of life, across history, in any environment, and you will discover they share one trait: They keep moving forward. Sometimes slowly. Often with great difficulty. Frequently after painful mistakes, defeats, or failures. Success is less about talent and opportunities, and more about commitment and motivation.

Wherever you are — it’s too early to draw a conclusion. You may be down, but you’re not done. Today’s defeat could be tomorrow’s gold.

One of the greatest ways you can affirm value in another person is by giving them the gift of your undivided attention, the kind of attention that says, “I hear what you are saying because I value who you are.” You don’t have to agree with someone to show them their value as a person. Listening demonstrates that any person you meet is worthy of your respect and attention.

The people with thriving careers and healthy personal relationships get the same amount of time each week as the burned-out professional who can’t remember their last meaningful conversation with a family member.

Boundaries are easier to manage when your values are well-defined.

Like the three points in a triangle, knowing your value, maintaining your value, and getting compensated for your value are essential in building professional stability and longevity. If the compensation or the opportunity sounds too good to be true — it probably is. Sooner or later, reality prevails over rhetoric.

Effective life management isn’t about finding more time to fill; it’s about recognizing you don’t have to do anything you do not choose to do. Hiding a choice behind a “have to” is irresponsible. Everything filling the white space in your life is there because you chose to put it there. We always have the power to say, “No.” We just need to be ready to live with the consequences.

A nagging focus on time management makes us want to increase the speed of our lives. Maintaining a focus on priority management helps us recognize the need to slow down. When our use of time is built around well-defined priorities, life is less a question of how much we can get done and more a question of whether something is worth doing at all.