You Need a Plan

You need a plan. You took the time to write a goal. You need a plan. 

A big part of accomplishing your goal is your plan for that goal. Goals take time. Goals take work. Sometimes Goals require some money. Goals take diligence and discipline. You need a plan on how you will reach the goal.

One of the things that I think you need to consider before making plans for your goals is the events and things scheduled for the year. If you have a two-week holiday in the summer that is going to reduce how much time you have to work on some of the goals. Look at your calendar and see what is already scheduled for the year. Those things might have some tasks associated with the event.

Once you have an idea of how much time you have available. Look at your goal. How much time do you anticipate it will take to accomplish that goal? Then plan time and do it. Most of the goals are things that we will be working on over months. We need a plan and also as we are working the plan we are seeing progress.

How do you plan your goal? One way is simply divide the goal into 12 and do 1/12 each month. For some goals that might work but you also need to consider that some months you might not have the time to devote to the goal.

Depending on the goal it might make sense to have a weekly task that will work you towards the goal.

You might need a month or two where you are focusing on a specific goal or goals. Get a big portion of it done. Winter months are perfect for doing some of those indoor activities. See how much you can get done before spring arrives.

Look at the goals that you have written. Write a plan for how you will accomplish that goal.

Are you thinking that writing the plan will take time that you could actually be working on the goal? Yes, it might take a bit of time but the plan will help you to know what needs to be done and how to do it. The plan is a bit like the map. A map helps to guide to from your location to your destination.

We can set goals and we can plan. I think those are good things but we need to remember that God is in charge of our plans. He can change our plans. His plans for our life are perfect.

We do the best we can with the bits of knowledge that we have but God is all-knowing.

To live A Fruitful Year we need to be abiding. As part of the abiding, we need to be listening to the Spirit and checking our goals and plans to be sure that we are following God’s ways. This is not just at the beginning of the year but throughout the year. Abide in Christ and listen to the Spirit.

Hold your plans loosely in your hands. Be willing to change the plan for the day, the week or even the whole goal if God calls you do so. Remember the words from James 4:13-16, specifically verse 15. 

When your plans change, trust that God is working and he has a better plan and goal for you at this time. 

Do you have plans for how you will reach your goals? Have you written these down?

Beth