We must be very intentional in how we define success.

First, we need to make sure that we decide for ourselves what success means to us. Otherwise we’ll spend our days chasing the approval of others, which is fruitless and exhausting.

Second, we need to be aware of whether we’re going to focus on the process/journey or the end result. The process and our effort are factors we can control for the most part. The end result is not.

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had this as his definition: “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming.”

Absent from Wooden’s definition? Winning. That’s because he knew that was out of his control (and remember this is a guy who won 10 National Championships in a 12-year stretch).

Baseball players face this challenge all the time. Every time they step into the batter’s box the now gigantic scoreboards display their batting average and other statistics for all to see. If they allow those numbers to define them, they will spend each day riding a roller coaster of emotions. It’s mentally exhausting and will wear a player out far more than even the physical grind of playing 162 games.

It’s a challenge for the players to look away from that scoreboard and instead focus on how they prepare and attack the day. We have the same challenge: Do we choose to look at the scoreboard of our life? Or are we focused on the process and the journey?
Today, choose wisely.

Contact MLB.com writer Steve Gilbert at winyourday@gmail.com to sign up for his daily inspirational emails.