The Pacific Ocean was obstacle. His opponent was his own fears of overcoming that obstacle.

He made a plan to escape. The day arrived and Hanks set sail aboard a make shift, rinky dink raft of logs tied together with tree bark and video tape.

He met every adversity South Pacific could throw at him. It wasn't easy, but finally, rescue came.

The movie portrayed a very intense drama. An analogy of what life is like for many people. Thousands of folks every day feel trapped in a nowhere life. They feel like their life is being wasted, like they are going nowhere, on a nowhere island with little hope of escape.

Every day these people trudge off to a boring and hopeless job that offers only an existence but no real sense of satisfaction in life as accomplishing anything.

These people know there is a better life out there, a life they so desire, yet it seems so far away. They are trapped on their own island of despair.

Held there, not by island itself, but by their own fears of not being able to overcome adversity and opposition that lies between them and their dreams.

A few do escape from that island. They are ones who finally become sick and tired of living a wasted life, they are ones who overcome fear inside.

They start out from their island, not really knowing if they will make it or not. But they look that sea of difficulties square in eye and say, in unforgettable words of Admiral David Farragut, "Damn torpedoes, full speed ahead."

To resolve this situation, write down all of different objectives you have in your life. Make them action phrases like "writing a book" or "driving across country." Make list as long or as short as you like.

Once you're done, next to each item, write specific fulfillment to be achieved next to each item. Make each word an adjective or each phrase descriptive of something tangible. For instance, "writing a book" might provide "fame and fortune" while "driving across country" might provide "freedom." Once you've finished classifying your objectives, you'll find that most of them duplicate fulfillment achieved and others have no reason at all. This is where a lot of people run into a problem! You have a million things to do, no time to do any of them, and your inner need is to feel fulfillment.

To resolve this, group items in separate lists by fulfillment you describe and eliminate those items that have no reason. From each new list, figure out tasks that will give you greatest feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment. From this final list, you have your primary objectives to accomplish---all others are secondary and should not be focused upon until you've finished your primary objectives.

* Your Mission, Vision, and Goals Once you've figure out your primary objectives, you must now figure out how to get there. This is not an easy task and it might take a few days to cut through fog that has settled in your mind.

The Vision is a view of things in future---where you see yourself. It is tangible item that you chase to feel fulfillment you seek. Realize that your Vision will change many times over your life, but each redefinition gives you a clearer view of where you want to go based on your growth.

The Mission is a statement that defines what you will do to reach your Vision---the action that you perform to reach your Vision. As your Vision changes, so must your Mission because your direction will change as well.

Goals are important in that they add direction and purpose to life. They define intermediate steps involved in accomplishing your Mission. These are selected items from your objectives that must be achieved to build path of your Mission. As each Goal is accomplished, you are that much closer to your Vision.

--- Executing Plan ---

Once you've defined your Goals, you can begin defining and executing your plan of action. For each Goal, you must define steps required to reach them. For instance, one of my past Visions was to "work at home as a writer." My Mission was to do "technical writing and work in other writing arenas to enhance my talent and my exposure." Some of my Goals to reach initial Vision were:

- Locate three writing contracts. - Work to generate income for six months of unemployment. - Locate insurance. - Quit day job.

For each Goal, I defined a set of smaller steps or actions that helped me accomplish Goal. For instance, my plan of action for "Locate three writing contracts" was:

- Assemble my writing samples. - Rebuild Web site to advertise my work. - Rewrite resume to reflect direction for software documentation. - Talk to local recruiters about opportunities. - Visit sites for telecommuting opportunities on a weekly basis. - ...

Obviously, you must be careful when defining your Goals and plan of action so that you perform steps in proper order. If you define your steps in such a way that you end up in a deadlock, then your entire plan is useless. Make sure that you organize your Goals and your plan of action such that each step builds on previous.

--- What's next? ---

Don't feel that this process is over after you do it first time. Realize that you will grow as you accomplish your Goals toward your Vision. As you grow, your Vision will change and so must you change your Mission and Goals.

This is an iterative process that forces you to reevaluate your direction as you accomplish each Goal in your path. Not only will this reevaluation and reassessment of your direction help you stay out of consistent geometric shapes that put you in a rut, but it will keep your life moving forward to greater fulfillment in things that really make a difference for you.