1) Establishment of Clear Goals While Young

If you do not know your present position, you are like a ship making a voyage without knowing its latitude and longitude. You should know your present position first and then decide the direction to go in. You must have direction in your life. (120-316)

Without having a blueprint for your future, you cannot lead your life successfully. While in your twenties, you have to establish precise goals and invest your whole energy and heart to fulfill them. If you do so, it is very possible that you will become a historical figure or leave behind something memorable for the world. A person who just accepts his environment and situation will pass away in history. Once you have decided to do something, you have to have the courage to fight to accomplish your goal, no matter what kind of difficulties lie ahead. You should have the courage to digest all obstacles rather than merely to dislike them. (120-313)

Everything in this world is in competition. You must go the road in which you avoid personal mistakes that lead to your downfall, and don't lose a year or even a month. There is even competition in working out which way to go. If you lose one year, you will not be able to keep up.

If you lost a year, and other families already had babies and went forward one step, you would not be able to keep up. It is similar to shooting an arrow: if arrows are shot with the same power, the arrow that is shot first will arrive at its target prior to the other. Otherwise, you would need to possess many times the driving force in order to regain the ground. But there aren't such people.

Therefore, it is very important to know how to spend one year during your youth. You must set a certain goal and follow through to fulfill it. It is like the dial and compass. Before a ship sets out on a voyage, navigators have to decide the course and direction of the ship and precisely measure the settings with a compass. Then, they must start the engine and the propeller must begin to turn. With the propeller turning, the ship must begin its voyage. If it turns back on the way, it becomes so much harder. (120-314)

You should go forward after knowing the way you have to go. Once you have chosen a direction, you have to invest your whole energy and heart centering on that direction. Even if you are tired to the point where you cannot open your eyes or hear anything, you must invest your utmost. (120-329)

From now on, you should make a clear determination, and, uniting mind and body, invest everything 24 hours a day, even during your sleep. When you awaken and open your eyes, you have to study everything related to that goal and make comparisons. This means that you have to make your own world. Dedicating your whole heart and will, you must go here and there bound with a rope to such a world. Then you can be someone who leaves a mark on the world. (120-326)