Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house. PROVERBS 24:27 (NLT)

_____________________________________________________________________________

Dreaming is not planning. Presumption is not planning. Planning involves careful forethought regarding the necessary steps to accomplish a goal. It answers the question, “What must happen to make happen what you want to happen?”

We often hear well-meaning advice to live the life of our dreams. However, many dreams result in nightmares for the dreamers and for others when they do not give appropriate forethought to the results of their actions. Selfish dreams hurt the dreamers and all they influence. 

Presumption assumes tomorrow will be like today, the future will be the same as things are now. Imagine carrying that line of thought into January 2020. 

We need a kind of planning which is capable of seeing a future worth a full investment of time and energy yet flexible enough to account for changing reality. We need a First Things First, Next Things Next planning model. We need a visionary planning model containing the right amount of vision language for the right amount of time in the future. 

Consider a 1-4-1-4 planning model that can be found in Will Mancini’s book, Younique: Designing the Life that God Dreamed for You. Take a look at where your life is going and where you want it to go. When you look at who you are and what your life circumstances are three years from now, what does that include? How old will you be? Where will you work and live? 

Who will be with you? What will their life circumstances look like? Ask God to give you clarity about these matters. Seek his direction. What kind of life will honor him and serve others?

What picture comes to mind that represents the goodness of a well-executed plan? Some pictures I have heard include a life-giving stream, a deep well, a bonfire carrying sparks of inspiration, a deeply rooted oak of righteousness. 

Write a description of that future state as if it were already accomplished. For example: “Life is moving faster now. My fire is more contained. It’s the kind of fire people enjoy relaxing around at a campsite. It seldom blazes out of control. I am in a new season with a different sense of productivity and effectiveness. I do not run anymore. I move at a more deliberate pace. I am slowing down to go farther faster.”

Consider next what are the four big rocks, the four table legs, the four foundation stones, or the four big obstacles you need to overcome that will get you to the life of your dreams. In other words, “What’s stopping you?” How will you get where you want to go? What adjustments do you need to make? What resources do you need to gather? These are the big ideas you will work on for the next one to three years.

Which of these Big Four is most important for you to work on in the next ninety days? What one thing do you need to accomplish between now and Christmas that will set you up for success as you begin 2021? 

What four rhythms and habits do you need to build into your life that will empower you to accomplish that ninety-day goal? What do you need to do daily or weekly? 

Ninety days from now, as you prepare for the New Year, you will reset your ninety-day goal and the rhythms and habits that make it successful. You will do this by re-examining your three-year goal. Is it still the good life you believe God is leading you into? What adjustments need to be made?

You will also re-examine your four big rocks. Which of them are most important for the next ninety days? What one thing can you accomplish in the first quarter of 2021 that will move you toward the life of God’s dreams for you?

What rhythms and habits will help turn your dreams into reality? 

God-honoring planning and God-led living results in beautiful futures. 

When will you make time to dream God-honoring dreams and to make God-led plans? The sooner you get started, the more purposeful life you will live. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

I will plan a life that honors God and serves others.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Our Father, what are your dreams and plans for me? You have known me from before creation. You planned for me to live in this place at this time. How can I live the life you always intended? How can I maximize my expression of your imprint upon my life? How can I best honor you and serve others? Lead me in planning and executing your vision. Amen.