A few weeks ago, I started a series of blogs based on 4 traits possessed by the people I wrote about in my book Influential Christians. The traits were prayer, planning, preparation, and perseverance.
Today, I am going to talk about planning. Antoine de Saint-Exupery once wisely observed that “a goal without a plan is just a wish.”
If you are wondering, “Who’s Antoine de Saint-Exupery?” My answer: I have no idea. But it’s a great quotation.
How many times have we wanted something–to lose weight, earn more money, make a significant contribution to the world, see the New England Patriots get what they deserve–but we have not done anything about it?
When Bill Gaither started making music, he wanted to do it for a living. People soon offered to buy his music, but he had a plan. He figured he would be better off in the long run by retaining the rights to his music. Another component of his plan was to be a teacher, so he had a reliable income, but he committed his weekends to performing music. He wanted to be involved in the music industry full time, but he needed to pay his bills, so he worked his plan until his music income out gained his education income. Then he moved on from teaching and followed his number one passion.
Jerry Jenkins wanted to be a successful author, but he knew he needed to do that without interfering with his job or his family. Thus, he committed himself to writing from 9 PM to midnight every night. That was not the easiest time for him to write, it was the only time to write. If he had not created a plan and stuck to it, the Left Behind series might never have been written.
Plans don’t necessarily have to be complicated. They usually do have to stretch us a little bit. If they didn’t, we’d probably already have accomplished our goal. But if we don’t make a plan to get to where we want to be, we probably won’t ever get there.
Do you want to make an impact? Do you want to make a difference? Pray about it. And make a plan.