So much has been written about planning. Trainers, speakers, coaches, motivational types, they all write and speak about the importance of planning. Especially this time of year.
They will tell you that you must have a plan for 2019. They will use all the standard cliches about failing to plan is planning to fail…you’ve heard it all before. That’s ridiculous, nobody would intentionally plan to fail.
The truth is that you don’t need to plan to fail, it kind of happens all by itself. There is no special effort required. If fact, the less effort the better. Giving a half-hearted effort with no plan only delays the inevitable failure. So just sit back and watch it happen….to you.
Don’t let people bully you into making a plan that you have no intention of following. I can hardly think of a bigger waste of time. Step up and be honest about it. Let them know straight away that you have no intention of putting forth the effort required to implement any plan.
Most people will leave you alone after that. They leave you alone because their plan does not include helping others. Well, truth be told it’s far more likely that they don’t have a plan either.
It’s actually a rather small number of people who have a real plan. Now by “real plan” I mean something written out. It includes an honest assessment of their current situation and a realistic look at their desired outcome.
Within their real plan are short range, medium, and long range goals. Their plan has a budget within it. It’s a two part budget, one part details the money they are will to invest to achieve their desired outcome but more importantly it details the time they are willing to invest in order to succeed.
The best plans also include things they will STOP doing so they have the time to invest in more productive activities. Of course it’s not a real plan if it doesn’t include implementation steps, start dates and completion dates. The plan does NOT include words like tomorrow or someday because people who make real plans know those “dates” can’t be found on a calendar.
You can spot people with real plans because they are typically the people who people without plans complain about. People without plans are jealous of people with plans because they tend to have more of the stuff that the people without plans want.
If that’s confusing to you don’t worry about it, I’ve been confused by it for years.
It’s never too late to develop a real plan. If you’re one of those people who are tempted to once and for all develop a real plan for success in 2019 I have a warning for you. Once you invest the time to develop a REAL plan for 2019 it will continuously pull at your “lazy strings” until they are completely unraveled.
Before you know it all the comfortable excuses you used in the past to explain away your “bad luck” or “unfortunate circumstances” will be forgotten. You won’t accept circumstances created by someone else, you’ll make your own.
You will find yourself accomplishing more than you thought possible. You’ll use your old excuses as fuel to motivate you. You won’t stop until you’ve achieved the goals you built into your real plan.
Or…you could just do what you’ve always done. There is absolutely no requirement that you have a plan for success. You can just wander through life the way some people do. Like pretty much everything in life it’s a choice.
YOUR choice!
Good day Sir
For a longest time I have been reading and following your commentaries and felt motivated. I am an HR Consultant and I am investing in a website. I would like, with your permission, quote some of your articles, if you would allow me. I will of cause, recognise your intellectual property, in line with ethical norms.
With kind regards
Yes, of course. It’s always an honor when someone thinks enough of my posts to share them with others.
Thank you for your post! I’m learning to make smaller more manageable and achievable plans. As a Pastor and Servicemen’s mentor, my biggest problem was trying so hard to achieve the big picture (grow my church size, implement teams, bring more Servicemen into our mentorship program, etc.) that a lot of small things (Celebrate achievements, Exercising, Dates with Wife, etc.) were falling through the cracks.
This year I’ll SLOW DOWN and fill in those small cracks so as to have a stronger foundation on which to build in 2020! Thank you again! A lot of your teachings are helpful in ministry as well.
Thanks Pastor, you know it’s hard to grow big things from big things and even harder to grow them from nothing. The most sustainable big things grow out of small things. I’m a big fan of big dreams and bigger goals, so long as you say, they are built upon the foundation of little things that matter. On another note… that date night with your wife is HUGE! It’s so easy for a spouse of a pastor to feel like second string, like everyone and everything else comes first. Date nights that are a priority are so important for Pastors, I’m tempted to say it’s importance is second only to Him!
Yes Sir. I wanted to edit my comment to say “a lot of small things (though not unimportant)”. Another thing that I’m learning is, as John Maxwell put it, “Choosing the simple over the complicated”. Talk about a liberating concept! Thanks again Steve. I’m glad I found your blog!!