I was having an insightful conversation with a professional colleague of mine recently. We were discussing life’s grander purpose and plotting on how to get ahead on our goals.

On paper, it sounded pretty straightforward. That did not last long, however.

As we exchanged experiences, a faint reoccurring theme began to emerge: success leaves clues.

Sometimes they are hard to catch. To be honest, if you blink too often, you’ll probably miss a thing or two. A little discouraging right?

Even so, it’s up to us to pay attention to when those little nuggets happen to drop. If we’re lucky, they’ll land right in our palms. Then comes the hardest part: figuring out what their meaning.

We can throw ourselves fully into a cause, a mission, work, goals, anything with every fragment of energy we possess. Without effective planning, learning and direction, there is little guarantee of making significant progress.

Wasted money is one thing, but there is no refund on wasted energy or time. That arrangement probably touches most folks in a bad way.

Working hard is not enough. We must plan well to make the hard work worth it.