No matter what you do, if you want to do it well, you must have a plan first. For example: we need plans to build a house, we need plans to teach a class.
"If you fail to plan, you are destined to fail." If you don't plan for success, you are planning for failure!

A. Definition:

Planning is about deciding in advance:

1. What should be done?

2. What to do?

3. When should it be done?

4. Who should do it?

B. Principles:

1. God has a plan for each of us, and He is willing to reveal His thoughts to us. (Jeremiah 29:11)

2. God's plan is revealed most clearly and thoroughly through His Word in the life, work and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Therefore, our plan should:

a. be based on our personal commitment to the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ
b. be based on the Word of God

4. The Holy Spirit is the true God who constantly guides us into the truth, including our vision for life. (John 14:26 and 16:13)

5. Relying on the Holy Spirit's guidance through prayer is essential in the process of seeking the right plan. (Plan guided by the Holy Spirit)

6. Planning should use the clear mind and wisdom God has given us. (2 Timothy 1:7).

C. Methods:

1. Objectives

Your goals should be about your needs and what you want to do. It will help you do three things:

a. Tell you your goals – what do you want to accomplish with your time?
b. Help you review your progress
c. Help you make decisions and change

Your goals should have the following qualities:

a. Specific – it describes the specific outcome you want
b. Measurable – You should be able to know what it takes to achieve your goals
c. Realistic – Your goals should not be so high that they are impossible to achieve, nor so low that you do not need to exercise your faith. You have to remember: your goals are flexible, not rigid. That is, they can be changed as needed or over time. They are meant to help you manage yourself, not to limit you.

Luke 2:52 gives us a good guide to the four areas of our lives where we need to have goals:

a. Spirituality – Your relationship with God
b. Social aspects – your relationships with others (including your family, small group, non-Christians, etc.)
c. Intellectual aspect – your relationship with your mind
d. Physical aspect – your relationship with your body You can add a fifth aspect:
e. Career – Your relationship to your job (Note: Limit the number of your goals to two or three so that they are realistic and achievable.)

2. Resources

In Luke 14:28-32, the Lord Jesus gave two examples about how we must weigh the cost of doing something before we do it. One of the considerations in calculating the cost is whether we have enough resources to accomplish the work. In personal planning, our resources include our time, abilities, manpower, information, money, space, etc.

3. Activities

"How should you do what you want to do?" There are many activities that can help you achieve your goals. However, given your limited resources, you must choose the best activities to help you achieve your goals.

The following steps may help you:

a. Think of as many possibilities as possible. Review your goals one by one and write down all the activities you can think of that can help you achieve them.
b. Review the activities you wrote down and choose the best ones. The principle is: they are practical and the most effective given your limited resources.
c. Rank the selected activities in order of importance.

4. Timetable

Because time is valuable, our plans should help us use it wisely. If we have set goals and activities, but do not have the time to carry them out, planning is in vain. If your plan doesn't point to you doing that thing at that time, then your plan has failed.

When designing a schedule, we should allocate time for the activities we have chosen. But if we simply cannot spare the time to implement the activities, we have no choice but to cancel these activities or change our indicators, or even reorganize the entire schedule or activities.

Note: We must not ignore those fragmented and seemingly useless times. For example: waiting for the bus, travel time, personal matters such as bathing, dressing, eating, etc.; household chores such as cooking, ironing, cleaning, etc.

5. Standards

Standards can help us know to what extent we want to do something. Someone can finish reading Philippians in an hour or in ten minutes. Both are fine; the standards are different. Whether we consider something to be good or bad depends on the standards we set. Of course, standards are directly influenced by our perspective.

Make a Personal Plan