Your purpose in life, your “why,” must be well-defined in your mind. It must excite you. It must make you passionate. And, here’s the key: It must be bigger than you. If you are the center of your own universe, you become a star that shines only on itself.

No man is cheated more than the selfish man.

• Henry Ward Beecher

With purity of purpose, the river of abundance flows deep and wide through you and onto others. Put yourself into an alignment with all that is right and true. Look for the good in yourself. Bring out the graciousness in others.

Many people seek success at the expense of others. But happiness, success and abundance are all tied into a spirit of giving. If you are in it to help others, you will help yourself.

True happiness consists in making others happy.

• Hindu Proverb

Never begrudge another an opportunity or success, no matter who it is. By resenting the advancement of another, you are staunching growth and undermining your own good fortune. Embrace success and prosperity whenever it occurs and inevitably it will take root within you as well.

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. USC economist Richard Easterlin has long studied the relationship between material gain and happiness. What he and others have discovered is that happiness is maintained at a constant level, a base level of contentment that we develop early on in our lives. Health, wealth, status or physical attractiveness have shockingly little effect on our personal well-being.

David Lykken, of the University of Minnesota, notes in his extensive study on happiness that even those with huge swings in fortune, like lottery winners, or misfortune, like recent paraplegics, don’t retain their levels of elation or despair for long.

Do you really want to make a difference? Most of us simply don’t know where to start. Don’t

attempt to change the whole world. Just change your own world. Concentrate on improving that which is right in front of your face. Start with the little things. Add a smile. Forgive a transgression. Lend a helping hand. Call someone you love. The more positive vibration you add to the world and the universe the more positive the world becomes.

Try not to become a man of success but rather a man of value.

• Albert Einstein

EXERCISE

JOURNAL CODE: JRN

This almost goes without saying, but just in case, here it is anyway. Journaling every day is essential to your mental and spiritual progress. When you arrive at your destination and succeed in the goals you’ve set, you’ll want to know exactly how you got there. Your journal maps the trail. Keep it updated faithfully.

Keep a journal to chart your inner progress. Write down your insights and evolutions. You know, writing is a window into the soul. Each word is chosen to reveal. As you become more aware of yourself you’ll have more to say.

Remember, your life is a journey. The point where you achieve your initial aims is only the first stop on your way to the top of the mountain. The view may look better than when you started, but it will just keep getting better and better the further you progress. So don’t settle.

Our deeds determine us as much as we determine our deeds.

• George Elliott

When you feel you are staggering aimlessly in darkness, remember you are still on the right path.

This is the trail. Don’t be intimidated. The farther you press on, the greater the reward.