A few years ago, I had breakfast with an old college roommate. We hadn’t seen each other in twenty-two years. To my surprise—and delight—he looked almost exactly as he did the last time I saw him. The only difference was that his blond hair was mostly gray.

We spent an hour or so eating and reminiscing. We talked. We laughed. And we listened.

If I asked you your “magic number,” chances are you would look at me and wonder what I really meant. Magic number? Is that like a lucky number?

If, however, I asked for your hoped-for retirement age, I bet a number would quickly pop into your mind. Was it fifty-five, sixty, or sixty-five?

Last week, I did a teleseminar for a group of 150 financial advisors. We talked about the importance of creating a written life plan.

Even though these professionals routinely create financial plans for their clients, most had never considered creating a life plan for themselves. It was a new idea. They wanted to know why I thought this was important.

If you are working more than fifty-five hours a week, you are working too much and likely out of balance. You may be able to work more than this for a season, but it is not sustainable. If you persist in working this much—or more—something will eventually break.

When I first began my publishing career, I was determined to succeed. Part of what drove me was fear. I didn’t have any experience, and I was scared to death I would be found out.

If you are a Christian, God obviously comes first. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). He is the ultimate priority. Until He is first, everything else will seem out of kilter.

But who comes second. You know, after God? This is where it gets tricky.

Most people I know still feel overwhelmed by life’s demands. Despite all the gadgets and gizmos, they don’t have more time. They are only getting busier—and falling further and further behind.

Sadly, many people are convinced their situation is temporary:

Whenever I write or speak on the topic of delegation (as I did yesterday), I always get a question from someone who says, “But what if you don’t have a staff? How can you delegate?” This question typically comes from staff people, technicians, stand-alone professionals, or start-up entrepreneurs. It’s a great question.

I don’t know about you, but I am suffering from information overload. Regardless of where I begin, I seem to fall into a black hole of never-ending links on an unquenchable search for mind stimulation. Let’s face it, without boundaries the internet can become an addiction.

Yesterday was a very full day at Catalyst in Atlanta. The conference officially begins today, so yesterday was full of smaller workshops on a variety of topics. I attended with my daughter, Megan Miller, and my communications director, Lindsey Nobles. Matt Baugher, one of our publishers at Thomas Nelson, joined for the afternoon sessions.

I have been a Marcus Buckingham devotee for years. As you may recall, he is the one who started the “strengths revolution” with the New York Times bestseller, Now Discover Your Strengths. This month we will publish Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently. In a moment, I will tell you how to get a copy FREE if you are a blogger.

I have worked hard to incorporate Marcus’ principles into my own personal development and leadership philosophy. In fact, we have built it into our performance reviews at my company, Thomas Nelson.