Three weeks into the new year. How are you doing on your resolutions? Are you achieving the goals that you set and are you pleased with your progress?
If you answered, “No,” The reason may not be related to your abilities or personality or even opportunity. The reason may be your plan.
Your employer has a plan. He or she has an enumerated and measurable goal. It is broken down into articulable steps and progress is measured daily.
The politician on television has a plan. He is working on a specific timetable of when to tell you what he wants you to know in order to provoke you to act in a desired way at an election.
Retailers have a plan. They know that President’s Day will soon be here and we can have a furniture sale and use some of that tax return to purchase a new sofa on an 18 month “same-as-cash” (2.5 times the normal retail price) plan…and while you’re there and you’ve spent so little money…you can upgrade that bedroom suit too (according to their plan).
The fact is… all of these entities have plans and planning is not bad. It is good. It is very good. The question is, “What’s YOUR Plan?”
WEIGHT LOSS:
What is your “dream” goal? How does that break down into daily activities? Which ones will you embrace today and schedule for tomorrow and the next day and the next?
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT:
Where will you go to church services on Sunday? What are you reading today? Which strategy for Bible reading have you adopted and what is today’s passage? Who are you sharing the gospel with? Who do you need to meet and get to know to answer the question of where they are in the area of personal faith?
SELF EMPLOYMENT:
Just because there is not an employer demanding your “straight eight” (hours) today doesn’t mean you should not have a plan for them. What needs to be addressed? What defines success for you? How will you take steps today, tomorrow and the next day to move toward success?
HOUSEWORK:
What does the menu look like today? How about tomorrow? Can you set out a menu for the week and go to the supermarket only once (instead of three times) this week? Did you look to see if there was coupon for one of the items? How about laundry…what day is that scheduled?
Honestly…you may have just said (as many do) that you hate the rigidness of a “schedule” or the “demands” of a WRITTEN plan. With a big smile and my sweetest “Dr. Phil” voice, “How is that working for you?” See, you need a plan to accomplish the necessary tasks to get you to your goals. There is a plan for your life…and if you are not the master of the plan for your life, someone else will be.
“Go to the ant, O sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, she prepares her food in the Summer and gathers her provision in the harvest.” Proverbs 6:6-8.
The ant EATS in the Winter because she planned and acted in the Summer and the early Fall. No one told her. She had a need/desire/goal and made a plan to get there. Now, she has achieved the goal and is set for the winter. (Consider also the example of the P31 Woman).
Lest you look about in May still weighing the same, still with no sales or prospects, still struggling with an empty spiritual feeling inside…answer the question, “What’s YOUR Plan?”
Shalom.
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