Good summary of the importance of Alignment

"Your life has an inner purpose and an outer purpose. Inner purpose concerns BEING and is primary. Outer purpose concerns doing and it is secondary. Your inner purpose is to AWAKEN. Your inner purpose is an essential part of the purpose of the whole, the universe and its emerging intelligence.Your outer purpose can change over time. It varies greatly from person to person. Finding and living in alignment with the inner purpose is the foundation for fulfilling your outer purpose. It is the basis for true success. Without the alignment, you can still achieve certain things through effort, struggle, determination, and sheer hard work or cunning. But there is no joy in such endeavor, and it invariably ends in some form of suffering." - Eckhart Tolle