For 20 years, I looked for the key which would determine what would happen to a human being. Was there a key, I wanted to know, which would make the future a promise that we could foretell to a larger extent? Was there a key that would guarantee a person’s becoming successful if he or she only knew about it and knew how to use it? Well, there is such a key, and I’ve found it.

Have you ever wondered why so many people work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular, and others don’t seem to work hard, yet seem to get everything? They seem to have the magic touch. You’ve heard people say, “Everything he touches turns to gold.” And have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue to become more successful – and, on the other hand, have you noticed how someone who’s a failure tends to continue to fail?

Well, it’s because of goals. People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. It’s that simple.

Think of a ship leaving a harbor. And think of it with the complete voyage mapped out and planned. The captain and crew know exactly where the ship is going and how long it will take – it has a definite goal. And 9,999 times out of 10,000, it will get there.

Now let’s take another ship – just like the first – only let’s not put a crew on it, or a captain at the helm. Let’s give it no aiming point, no goal, and no destination. We just start the engines and let it go. I think you’ll agree that if it gets out of the harbor at all, it will either sink or wind up on some deserted beach – a derelict. It can’t go anyplace, because it has no destination and no guidance.

It’s the same with a human being.

Take the salesperson, for example. There is no other person in the world today with the future of a good salesperson. Selling is the world’s highest-paid profession – if we’re good at it, and if we know where we’re going. Every company needs topnotch salespeople, and they reward those people. The sky is the limit for them. But how many can you find?

Someone once said that the human race is fixed, not to prevent the strong from winning, but to prevent the weak from losing.

The American economy today can be likened to a convoy in time of war. The entire economy is slowed down to protect its weakest link, just as the convoy has to go at the speed that will permit its slowest vessel to remain in formation.

That’s why it’s so easy to make a living today. It takes no particular brains or talent to make a living and support a family. So we have a plateau of so-called “security”, if that’s what a person is looking for. But we do have to decide how high above this plateau we want to aim.

If you’d like more lessons like this, please take a look at “The Strangest Secret:  How to Live the Life You Desire” at the Inspired Faith Gift Store from Beliefnet.

Reprinted by permission of Simple Truths (c) 2011. In order to protect the rights of the copyright holder, no portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent. All rights reserved.