“if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”
For some, it may seem they have lost so much time since the beginning of the year while others can still feel the freshness of the year, but what I know is this, no matter the date or the occasion, a person can never go wrong with a proper plan.
Before anything is started, a plan must be put in place. Before a day begins, an individual should have a plan on how to go about his/her day. Without a plan, time and resources can be wasted.
Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
Proverbs 20:18
A plan is a detailed writing to carry out something.
Commit everything to God, talk to him about it and He will establish according to His will. Proverbs 16:3
As believers, we aspire to be like God in every way. God in the beginning had a plan of creation, And all His creatures.
PURPOSE AND BENEFITS OF PLANNING
MOTIVATION
It is easy to lose motivation especially when there is no visible evidence of what we get motivated for. Planning gives you a visible rundown on what you have reasoned in your heart to achieve, therefore giving you a sense of motivation no matter how little.
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it.
The time will pass anyway.”
– Earl Nightingale
CLARITY
Planning helps an individual have clarity on decision making. It helps you identify what is the best option to choose and why you should choose it.
Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.
William Zinsser
PRIORITIES
Planning will make you identify what should be important. It gives room for a scale of preference and helps you see what the best option is.
“The first step to success is knowing your priorities.”
– Aspesh
DECISION-MAKING
Planning makes it easy for you to make decisions. In a world full of activities and attention catchers, making good plans helps you decide on what you ought to do. Decision making is a key aspect in running your life as well as your business. Planning can make it easy for an individual to make a good choice.
“Whenever you’re making an important decision, first ask if it gets you closer to your goals or farther away. If the answer is closer, pull the trigger. If it’s farther away, make a different choice. Conscious choice making is a critical step in making your dreams a reality.” Jillian Michaels
TIME MANAGEMENT
“A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life.”
Charles Darwin
Setting plans gives you the advantage of utilizing your time properly. It would help you get more things done in less time. Planning allows you to give preference of time. It makes you time conscious and eliminates time wasting. Someone said “ The key is not spending time but investing in it.”
QUALITIES OF A GOOD PLAN
WRITE YOUR GOALS
Every plan must first be written down. Someone once said a plan not written down is just a wish.
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Habakkuk 2:2
PRECISION IS CRUCIAL
Definition: strictly defined; accurately stated; definite - Collinsdictionary
A plan should be written clearly and carefully, making sure every aspect concerning it is stated. There should be a what? Why? When? Where? And How?
SET TIMELINES
Putting a deadline or timeframe to plans gives you the sense of urgency to achieve it. This is the ‘When?’ of a plan. When writing a plan, one should give a deadline to achieve what is written down. This time tag can be a source of motivation.
SET REALISTIC GOALS
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”
Luke 14:28
Plans should be realistic. Whatever is written as a plan must have a run down on how to achieve it and those steps should be realistic. This is not saying we shouldn’t think out of the box or dream big, dreaming big is different from making plans.
A plan must be able to get you closer to your dreams.
THINGS TO DO WHEN WORKING ON YOUR PLANS
COMMIT YOUR PLANS TO GOD.
“Within your heart you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there.”
Proverbs 16:9
We should reverence the Lord in all that we do. Trust Him to establish the plans, trust Him to arrange and make it come to be in His own perfect way.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
Psalm 143:8
We must remember God's plan for us is not our plan. God's plan for us is far larger and better than any plan we can imagine.
-Faye Horton, Decisions of Life
God is interested in all that concerns you. It is not a cliche, it is scripture. He knew you before you were born and consecrated you. Every plan we make, we ought to let Him know of it. A lot of time, people are scared to trust because they have been let down by others. This imprinted experience has left us wary of trust.
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21
BE DISCIPLINED.
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
Proverbs 21:5
Every great man is disciplined to a routine. What is yours? You are either committed to growing or committed to failing. In order to achieve all you have written down, you have to be committed to achieving them by being and doing what you ought to do, when you have to do them.
“You can either experience the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The choice is yours.”
HOPE
Have faith that you can get what you have written. Do not lose hope, always see light. Your belief in your plans serves as a fuel for you achieving them.
Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.
SEEK COUNSEL.
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Proverbs 15:22
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel (Proverbs 12:15).
Counsel can be gotten from God and people. God places certain people around us to show us the right path and help us make good decisions. It is important that we recognize those people God has placed in our lives, around us so that we can carefully make use of the opportunities that lie in front of us.
DO THINGS AND BE WITH PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE YOU.
In the path of life, the people we hold on to have some amount of influence on us. It is important that you control the influx of people in your sphere. With a goal in mind, our choices of relationships may fall in line with our goals and plans. Making a deliberate choice to be with people who inspire you to follow your dreams and not give up on your plans is important.
Be around people that are optimistic and decisive. In order to achieve great things, our minds need to believe in the good. Staying with positive and enthusiastic people can be a booster in achieving your plans.
We either inspire or are inspired by others. In other words, some people give you confidence; when you are depressed, they encourage you. Then there are others, who pull you down. But only those people become successful who master the art of building up others.
Joginder Singh
SOME QUOTES ABOUT PLANNING
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
– Yogi Berra, former New York Yankees catcher.
“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”
– Peter F. Drucker
“Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”
– Richard Cushing
“Plan your work and work your plan.”
– Napoleon Hill
“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.”
– Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister
“For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”
– African Proverb
“Good planning without good working is nothing.”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
– Jim Rohn
“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”
– Tom Landry
Shalom!
Miranda George,
Staff Writer.
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