Suppose you wanted to take a trip somewhere. What is the first thing that you do? You would get a map showing your destination, of course. Now you can see clearly how to get to where you want to go.

Next comes the planning phase. You wouldn't just get in your vehicle and drive or hop on a bus or a train or plane and hope for the best. No. You would plan a route. Fundamental to that would be the fact that you need to recognize your starting point. You cannot choose a direction before you know exactly where you are. So, to arrive at a destination point we need to know the point of origin. Only then can we fill in the gaps between.

Say, for instance, that you want to get to town F and you are starting from town A. Your first check point is town B. After that comes towns C, D and E. By monitoring your route along the way you can be assured of reaching your chosen destination.

Sometimes along the journey we take a wrong turn. When this happens we need to check our map. If we don't, we just keep going in the wrong direction. Naturally this happens most often when we either don't consult our map often enough or we simply don't have a map. Checking the map allows us to "get back on track."

It is a fairly well known fact that all airplanes are "off-target" most of the time. However, minor adjustments along the way ensure that the plane travels along the general flight path until it arrives at its location. Failure to make a one or two degree adjustment could cause the plane to be hundreds of miles off course. The same happens with the steering wheel of a car. Failure to make adjustments will see you end up in a ditch on the side of the road.

But what about your life? That is the biggest journey of them all. Why do so many people just blunder their way along without any plan? So many people have no goals, no plan, no checkpoints - nothing. Yet they expect to arrive at some fanciful destination called success.

Write yourself a plan. Mark in the checkpoints - A, B, C, D, E, F and so on. Monitor your progress. Measure it against time. If you do this you will be so far in front of the masses who not only have no idea where they are going but have no idea where they are. Remember, be realistic about your starting point and your destination point. Filling in the checkpoints just becomes a matter of course then.

Take the "Journey of Life" and don't forget the roadmap. It's so much easier when you know where you are going.

This article comes with reprint rights providing no changes are made and the resource box below accompanies it.

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice."