How many times have you heard the expression that most people spend more time planning their vacation than they do planning their lives. I would expand that expression by adding that most people spend more time "thinking" about their vacation than they do thinking about what's important in their life.

    While rest andrelaxation1are a must in living a balanced life, it's not what we were created to do. After all, the Master Creator took his R&R (Rest and Recreation) on the seventh day, only after six days of "definitely directed thought."

    Wallace D. Wattles, wrote "There is nolabor2from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained andconsecutive3thought; it is the hardestwork in the world." And yet it is the first and primary labor of achievement.

    What is your life's purpose or your personal mission statement? Is it written down? Do you review it and think about it often? Is your life organized around your purpose and a set of goals that support that purpose?

    Without purpose and goals - definitely directed thought - you are like the proverbial "ship without a rudder." There is power in your purpose and in your goals. It is the power that takes you over obstacles, the fuel that propels you toward the life you envision.