A Plan Worthy of You
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ”
A meaningful life doesn’t just happen. A profound life is yours to make. If you float through life, letting things happen to you, your life will not be your own. Further, your life will not feel fulfilling, no matter how successful, unless you and God take control of your present and future. We’ve all been told to set personal goals, plans, and visions, but few of us ever take the time to make it happen. Yet, personal planning would make a massive difference in your personal and professional life.
Strategic Mindset, by Thibaut Meurisse, helps the reader form a personal plan for one’s life. While I cannot reflect on the entire book in one devotion, I can begin your process by having you address a few questions Meurisse suggests the reader consider. Do not just think about the questions but write them down and address them. Pondering and then writing thoughts provide two different forms of view, which provides a more profound understanding. The first question is, “What would make the next twelve months truly valuable?” Don’t take hours; just five or ten minutes is enough to get you started. “Now, write down what you would have accomplished by filling in the prompt below using your action guide: “The last twelve months were truly amazing because….” The last quote challenges you to visualize your achievement.
Notice the three-step process; consider the question, write it down, and visualize the achievement. When you plan your life, your work, and everything else that is important to you, use this three-step process, and you will be able to be better able to think strategically and respond productively. Use the process with the following questions. “If I can achieve one thing this year, which one would make me the proudest?” “If I can achieve one thing this year, which one would make the biggest positive difference in my life?” What’s the one thing I’ve always wanted to do (but haven’t)?” “What’s the one thing that scares me the most?”
Once you have pondered each question, written them down, and then visualized achievement, it is time for the essential part of the process. Now is the time for prayer. All things are possible with God’s help. When you share what you desire most in your life with God and God blesses it, dreams often become a reality. I spent my high school years living in a trailer park with bad grades. I prayed over my desire to become a minister. Doors opened, hard work and opportunity came together, and God provided blessings. You still can work with God to make plans, dreams, and blessing a reality in your life. It will not happen until you get started.
