It is difficult to get to where you are supposed to go, it is difficult to get to a place of real accomplishment, it is difficult to get anywhere of significance, if you do not have a plan, if you do not put forth concerted concentrated effort, and if you do not have a purpose in your life. This purpose in your life, can be internally programmed in the sense that you are driven to do well, simply because that is the way that you are, then again, for other people, it is not until they unearth the purpose of life on a universal level, that they are able to ascertain clearly the things that they should be focusing on, and become thereby motivated to accomplish them to the best of their ability.
It is not enough in life to be good for something, or even necessarily to do good for others, although both of these things have their rightful place and are worthy both of our respect and approbation. What a person of any real sense, of any real curiosity, of any real talent, must do in order to put themselves on the pathway of true eternal success, is to first to figure out, why they are even here in the first place. If you are oblivious to even asking the question, it is questionable that you could conceivably achieve the mastery of the skills necessary to become all that you should and ultimately must be. If you do ask the question, but give up finding the answer, or accept answers that do not rest upon solid foundation, perhaps you have opened the door for truth a small amount, but a glimpse or distortion of the way, is not the way. It is not enough to ask the most important question, why are we here, without devoting yourself completely to receiving the answer and thereupon acting on this answer with dedication, devotion, and purpose.
In today's world, too many people of real merit and worth simply don't care to ask the question, perhaps because they are too busy doing and accomplishing things that mean something to them, or at a minimum, at least occupying their time, energy, and space. It is not enough to stay busy, it is not enough to be successful, and it is not enough to do things that appear to benefit yourself or others, if you do not understand implicitly why you are doing these things in the first place. If, on the other hand, you know that "…the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all," (Ecclesiastes 9:11), then, this means that you know that a purposeful life can only occur with an acknowledgment that there is something beyond space and time, something far wiser than ourselves and our own thoughts, something that represents truth, justice, peace, and unconditional love, and that something is our Creator.
Those that understand that our earth truly is a testing ground and that our earth truly is a proving ground, will find themselves almost compelled and thereby driven to find their purpose in life, and to subsequently dedicate themselves to fulfilling that purpose, in the conscious recognition that the very first step in our pathway back to God, is to make the world a better place for our having lived upon it.