So many important things can compete for our attention in business that it is often difficult to see the trees for the woods. What’s more, it can be extremely difficult to get everyone on your team on the same page and focused on the overall goal. This is where critical success factors can help. Critical successful factors can be defined as “the essential areas of activity that must be performed well if you are to achieve the mission, objectives or goals for your business or project” (Mindtools, 2013). By identifying our critical success factors, we can create a common point of reference to help direct and measure the success of our business or project. The Irwin text states that “managing ourselves is probably life’s greatest challenge” (Irwin, 2006). We often find ourselves failing to do the simplest things—like getting to work on time or controlling what we say to others. Sometimes we find ourselves looking back on situations, wondering what we could have done differently to achieve the optimum results. Self-management takes a great amount of self-control on our parts because one must learn to conquer negative impulses and resist overreacting to situations that arise. We must assume positive attitudes and practice forethought. Being prepared for a situation shows a level of required competence, which allows us to build skillful relationships where we understand everyone’s differences and recognize conflicting agendas. How well we work with one another determines how effectively we perform in the workplace. When we look ahead and identify potential problems that could either hurt or harm our efforts, we anticipate what is needed to create good outcomes—an effective way of handling conflict before it arises or becomes uncontrollable. As the Irwin text states “good relationships are neither simple nor easy; having solid relationships require effort