If You Can’t Readily Tell Me, You Don’t Have One!

Where Are You Going?

If someone asked us that question, we should be able to quickly tell them what plans we have for our life.  If we stumble around for words and can’t quickly answer the question, then we don’t know what our plan is. Whether it is our diet and exercise plan, our budget, our personal or professional development plan, our spiritual growth plan, or to build relationships, we need a plan of attack. Like going on any trip from Point A to Point B, we must have a plan of attack. Where do I start? What is my destination? Where am I going? What is my route going to be to get there? What method of transportation am I going to use to get there? When am I going? What luggage am I bringing with me? What am I going to do when I get there? Who am I going with? What preparations need to be made in advance, and how far in advance? All of these are valid questions that we ask when planning a trip, correct? Why do we need to take time to answer these questions? Why don’t we just get in the car and go? Why “waste” precious time? The fact of the matter is we are not “wasting” precious time. We are actually going to save ourselves a lot of time, money, and headaches by planning ahead, correct? Of course!

We know this to be true when planning our vacations, yet many of us see it as a waste of time to “plan our lives.” It is either so overwhelming to us that we don’t know where to start, or we simply are clueless and have never thought about it. Either way, planning your life can actually “give you a life!” The fact of the matter is many of us drift through life, merely going through the motions, day after day after day. Nothing ever changes because we never change anything.

Nothing Changes Until You Do!

That’s a harsh reality, but it’s the truth. In order for our circumstances to change, we have to change them. We can either keep living in a dream, or start living our dream. It’s up to you. Only you have the power to make things change and start heading in the direction that you want to go! This is your life, and you are driving it. Where are you going? Do you even know where you are going? Do you know how to get there? Do you know where “there” is? If you don’t know where you are, then you can’t connect the dots to get from where you are right now to where you want to end up. That’s called a plan, a road map.

The Plan is Golden

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

As Alan Lakein said, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” If you don’t take the time to figure out where you are and where you want to go, you will never get there. Yes, it does take time on the front side, but it will save a lot of time on the back side. Because you take time to focus and plan beforehand, your journey will go more smoothly with less headaches, where you can actually enjoy it. Once we can see the necessity in planning, that helps us bite the bullet and “get r’ done!” This is the hard part, but no pain no gain. We must plan our work and work our plan. The plan is actually where the “gold” is, because it helps us to find our pot of gold at the other end of the rainbow. We don’t just see the other end (our destination), we know how to get there!

Some of us don’t have a life because we never “planned” one.

This is the exciting part! What do you want to do with your life? Who do you want to be? Where do you want to go? What do you like to do? It’s up to you! You can be anyone you want to be, go anywhere you want to go, and do anything you want to do. So what are those dreams inside of you?

Brainstorm and write it all down. God told Habakkuk to “write the vision down and make it plain; though it tarry it will surely come to pass” (Habakkuk 2:2-3). God said it will surely come to pass, not might or maybe. Something happens when we write it down. Dumping it out of our head and writing in on paper helps give us clarity and focus we can “see” it. Our dreams or vision starts to take shape. The more descriptive we can be, the clearer our vision will be. Also, when we write something down, we have an 87% better chance of remembering it.

Once you have written it all down, then you can start sorting through and organizing all of your thoughts and dreams into plans. The plan is the Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, connecting the dots between where you are right now to where you want to end up, your destination. This is the hard part and takes some thought and research. It is also the painful part of having to own up to the mess you might currently be in (how much debt you are in, how overweight you are, etc.). This is the harsh reality, the looking in the mirror part. But that’s okay, you’re not going to stay here! This is just your starting point.

Focus!

I want to challenge you to take the time and set aside some “planning time” to plan your life. Whether you take a weekend or set aside an hour every evening for a week to help bring focus and clarity in your life, it will be well worth it, time well spent. I want to challenge you to at least hit the “core” areas of 1) Faith, 2) Family, 3) Fitness, and 4) Finances. Be as descriptive as possible, just like you would be if mapping out your vacation. Don’t leave any gaps or you will be left hanging. Connect all the dots.

1. Faith – Are you part of a community of faith that can help you grow spiritually? Do you read the Bible or a daily devotional, or have a study guide plan you are using? Do you spend “sharing time” every morning with God and talk about your day, life’s situations or needs? What are your areas of improvement you are focusing on? (Keeping your big mouth shut, managing anger or being more patient, to be more thoughtful of others thinking about their needs and not just your own, listening when God’s Spirit speaks to your heart and following His instructions, etc.)
2. Family – How can you improve your relationships at home? How would the other person feel if you responded like you may feel like responding? How can you reword that so as to not come across defensive and start an argument? How can you squelch strife? How can you help them? Maybe they are going through a hard time or need some positive encouragement. Try to stay in touch with friends or connect and make new ones. Call an old friend once a week or make a lunch date to catch up.
3. Fitness – You only have one body to last a lifetime, take care of it! Your body is a live organism and needs real, live food (food that was planted or raised), not dead processed food. What is your plan: Keto, Paleo, Mediterranean, or customized (4 vegetables, 3 fruit, 2 protein, 1 fat and 1 starch per day)? Your body was meant to move. Find fun ways to stay active and keep moving. What is your exercise plan? (walk 30 minutes 5 days per week and lift weights 2 days per week, take a Pilates or yoga class twice a week, play tennis 3 times a week, etc.)
4. Finances – Tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went! That’s called a budget. When you get your paycheck, cash it, and make different stacks/envelopes for whatever you will need money for. You could include a stack for groceries, gas for your vehicle, clothes, haircuts, tithes, a mortgage or rent, phone bill, childcare, insurance, medical/dental, tires/oil changes, vacation, weekly spending money, etc. Whatever you will need money for, make a stack for it. You should end up with $0 left in your hand. All of your money should be placed in a stack. If it is a monthly bill, how much will you need to add each week to have money at the end of the month? If it is an annual bill, divide by 52 to determine how much money to add each week. Break it down into bite-size pieces, until you can manage it. You don’t have to use this exact system, but it helps to visualize it.

Once you have your “roadmap,” the next thing is you have to get in the car and go! You have to actually take that first step and do something different. Start following your map to your destination. If you are changing your diet or starting an exercise routine, it will feel weird in the beginning simply because it is doing something different. But after a few weeks of doing it, you begin to feel more comfortable with it and pretty soon, it is your new norm. You will actually start to “crave” healthy food and exercise (LOL)! Digging out of debt or losing weight is no fun, but being out of debt and being thin and healthy sure is, not to mention feeling a lot better! This is the “fun” part. It gets exciting as you see your progress, and that gives you fuel to keep going. Keep your eye on the goal, make daily adjustments, keep going and you will get there… guaranteed.

It’s your life ~ It’s a wonderful life!