Before you left school, did any of your teachers sit you down, and ask: 'How will you use your unique gifts in the world? Did they even explore the term 'unique gift' with you?

And what about your relationships?

The term 'soul-mate' sounds like a wonderful concept, doesn't it?

But did anyone point out to you that it would be impossible for your soul mate to discover your soul, before you discovered your own soul for yourself?

And what about our own children? What are we teaching them?

We'd love them to thrive, be prosperous and go out into the world with confidence. Yet if we lacked an inspirational teacher or important advice from a parent, how can we expect our children to achieve greater richness and abundance than we manage?

Clearly there is a need for us all to seek greater wisdom, be that for ourselves or for a youngster. Lost and unclear where to go for such advice we often turn to a friend or family member and ask for their advice.

But what happens?

Often they have a preconceived idea about the problem based on their own experience. They impart their well-meaning advice based on their view of reality. But what do you get if you listen to their advice?

Their life?

If their life is something you admire and is full of the happiness and abundance you crave, then perhaps the advice might be okay. But it's probably true that most of the people we turn to for advice are our peers. And by definition they're probably doing no better than we are.

So what can you do?

If you are single or discontented in your relationship (and even if you are not), my answer is simple. Find out who you are. If you do this then finding the right work and the right relationship becomes simple.

Why?

Because you're finding who you are and using this as a navigational tool, everything will slot into place so much easier. Sure you'll have bumps, but when we're on the right path, life is so much happier.

And if you have a family, what can you do?

As a step-parent, I came to the conclusion that our family needed to be gelled. For that we had to look at the purpose of the family. The heads of the family need to impart the wisdom in the home, no Barnie Bear and Homer Simpson. And that meant changes in the home. Tough changes!

Like no TV?

For us, yes; no game stations, no game boys, mobile phone texting or any electronic device from Monday to Friday. Of course if you're going to remove these things, you have to replace them.

And you replace them with ...

You.

We got creative in the kitchen, made fun out of cooking, experimenting with the children, seeing what we could make from the ingredients they got out the cupboards, made housework entertaining and imparted little bits of wisdom while teaching life skills. We're a long way from perfect but we are practicing and having fun with it all the time.

Done well, with the emphasis on fun rather than getting the job done these simple ideas bring a family together like you won't believe.

Warm regards

Jo