Here's my top 10 list, pulled from others.

1. *Know where you are going and why.* Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers did not start with what they were doing or how they were going to get there. They knew their purpose first and the rest followed. Watch Simon Sinek at TED: How Great Leaders Inspire Action (http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action).

Internalize your mission daily so that everything you do will get you there.

2. *Have the perseverance to keep to your mission daily.* You'll have a ton of great ideas, eventually the right one will stick (assuming you take the time to listen to experts, to your followers, to the ones paying you to do great work). But you've got to go through a lot to get there... and keep pushing. Every failure, ask yourself if the mission is worth pursuing and if you are going about it the "right" way. If so, keep going. If not, adjust and keep going. Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success is Grit (http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit#t-226166)

3. *No excuses.* Apologize for mistakes you are at fault for. Nobody has a perfect life and all of us are faced with occasional injustice and variables. Man up and deal with it. Read this excerpt of Fear vs. Anxiety from Seth Godin (http://www.sethgodin.com/bigmoo/free/fearvsAnxiety.pdf)

4. *Have a balanced life.* Successful individuals do not bury themselves in work all of the time. They set apart time for their family and themselves. They learn that they are physical, emotional, and spiritual creatures and that by neglecting one, it kills the others.

The problem most have is they think their priorities are linear. Instead, think of them as circular. There are moments when you need to sacrifice time with your family to time spent on the business. Conversely, there are moments when you need to sacrifice time spent on your business for time spent building yourself up spiritually (more on this later). For the most part, this is just learning from those who've gone before you and figuring out when you need to put your efforts on the right things.

5. *Invest in yourself* - If you are burnt out, there's no way to be able to help anyone else. Spend time educating yourself, investing in relationships (business and personal), spiritually reflect on the things of life, and take care of your physical and mental health. Check out Dan Cathy's Leadership Toolkit (especially the Oxygen mask). http://www.cathyfamily.com/resources/leadership-toolkit.aspx

6. *Money and materials isn't everything.* Jim Collins stated, "Profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body. They are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life." The really successful people in life always get to the top because they made changes in the lives of others, not their own. But at the end of the day, when we die, what then?

I understand some may give me flak for this, but this is why religion isn't just a crutch for the weak. Rather those we may view as "poor and weak" may realize that there's got to be more to life than the things of life that only satisfy for a moment. Don't believe there is a God? Tim Keller challenges Google employees on why not only is believing in God reasonable, but believing in God is more reasonable than not believing in God (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ).

Figure out your true priorities and invest in them daily.

7. *Plan your day and your priorities.* Even if you are a one man show, you need to know what your values are and why (see points #1 and #2). Then you need to actually invest in those things with your time and your money. Aaron Ginn gives 6 great tips on how to focus your company values on growth (http://www.aginnt.com/post/49186721872/6-company-culture-attitudes-that-kill-growth#.VHekjTHF8ZM).

8. *Never stop asking questions.* The things I hold most dear to me are the things that I have tested and proved time and time again, whether that be my beliefs, my business strategy, or even my relationships. In order to do this, often it starts with asking probing questions to get at the answers. The prideful person assumes they have everything figured out and so they never dig deeper and they stop growing.

Quick word of caution: Not coming to conclusions about the questions you ask doesn't make you intellectually more "rational." It would be asinine to assume a wife is always cheating. Sure, ask the question from time-to-time. And when the evidence points out to her faithfulness, shelve the question. Same applies for the other areas mentioned above.

9. *Let go of past mistakes and move on.* Dwelling on past failures will restrict your openness to continue to think about future opportunities. The things in the past are great lessons with the tuition already paid. Get the most that you can and move on.

10. *Be a principled person.* We live in a society in which morals and principles are seemingly nonexistent. Part of the problem is we live in a culture that believes whatever is right in our eyes should be good (or, if it feels good, do it).

Back in the 1980's, Chuck Colson gave a speech to Harvard why they should not be teaching MBA's business ethics. The reason? They don't believe in absolutes. In order for there to be a coherent and consistent morals to live by, it cannot be something that changes. Read a transcript of Colson's speech here (http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/articles/entry/12/9649).

Identify which principles you have to guide your life by and keep to them daily. Your morals and principles should not change, no matter what.
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Now that you've got your pep talk, go out there and create something worth sharing!