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 and relaxation are 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 no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardestwork in the world." And yet it is the first and primary labor of achievement.

My friend Mike Litman wrote an outstanding article for his ezine this week. It’s called "The Millionaire Composite" and it analyzes one of the big differences between super-successful people and everyone else. He writes "I recently visited with a Real Estate Multi Millionaire Mogul. What did I see next to his desk? His vision statement, along with a list of what he values in life---hand written.

"A few months back, I interviewed an individual who has sold over a billion dollars worth of products on television. He told me that he reads his life and business vision and goals daily, and that he TAKES TIME to visualize exactly what he wants to create-EACH NIGHT before falling asleep."

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.

One of my favorite passages of James Allen is one he wrote in "The Mastery of Destiny":

"All successful people are people of purpose. They hold fast to an idea, a project, a plan, and will not let it go; they cherish it, brood upon it, tend and develop it; and when assailed by difficulties, they refuse to be beguiled into surrender; indeed, the intensity of the purpose increases with the growing magnitude of the obstacles encountered." And that’s worth thinking about.

我们多少次听到过这样的论点：大多数人在规划假期上花的时间比他们在规划自己生活上花的时间要多。 我为这一观点做了一点延伸：大多数的人在"考虑"假期上花的时间比他们在考虑人生中重要的事情上花的时间要多。

虽然休息和放松是平衡的生活方式必须的元素，但是我们并不是为了它们而活着。毕竟，伟大的造物主在前6天的"明确的方向性思考"后，第7天才休息和放松。华莱士D.华佗士，写道"没有任何一种体力劳动能够使大多数人望而却步，但连续不断地持久思考却能做到这一点;它是这世界上最困难的工作。" 却也是取得成功首先要做的重要的劳动。

我的朋友迈克里曼写了一篇杰出的文章。名字叫做"百万富翁的构造"，其中分析了超级成功者与其他人的一个重要区别，他写道"我最近拜访了一位房地产界的杰出富翁。你们猜我看见他桌旁放了些什么?他对自己梦想的描述和一张列有生活中值得珍惜之物的清单--都是手写的。

"几个月前，我采访了另一位获得巨大成功的商人，他通过电视节目卖出的产品总价值超过10亿美元。他告诉我：每天他都思考生活和事业中自己的梦想与目标，他花时间将他想要实现的理想在脑海中形象化--每晚睡觉前都这样做。"

你的人生目标和个人使命是什么?你把它们都写下来了吗?你经常回顾并思考它们吗?你的生活是围绕着理想和一系列相关的目标而安排的吗?如果没有理想和目标--明确的方向性思考--你就会象俗语说的："一条没有舵的船"。理想和目标中蕴含着力量。它是使你越过障碍的力量，它是推动你向美好生活前进的燃料。

在詹姆士艾伦的文章中，有一段我很喜欢，摘自"命运的主人"：

" 所有成功人士都有清晰的理想和目标。他们紧紧把握一个点子，一项工程，或一个划，绝不让它溜走;珍视它，让它慢慢发芽，呵护它，让它成长;当困难袭来时，他们绝不投降;甚至，追求理想的热情随着遭遇阻碍的强度而愈发增长。"这是值得我们思索的。