“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

You know your vision. You have defined your goals. You have established your balance. Now you need a plan.

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

The plan is as important as the goal. The plan allows you to define the strategies or the way in which you want to achieve your goals. It is in the plan that you define how to execute your goal. It is in the plan that you unfold the movie of achieving your goals. You must have a plan.

Every good entrepreneur always has a detailed plan to build his building. Through this, he knows where to start and where to finish. He knows how many bags of cement are needed. He knows how many workers he needs to employ on the site. The plan informs you and reveals some of your shortcomings. The plan allows you to distribute your activities over time. The difference I have noticed between Americans and Africans is that Americans have taken the time to plan. We Africans have not learned to plan. We grew up in improvisation, and we cultivated this bad habit of acting at the last moment.

To improvise is to act after the need arises, but to plan is to act before the need arises. Any development worthy of the name requires rigorous planning. Perhaps we do not plan because we do not have goals. Or even if we do, they are goals just for the present or selfish goals. I would like to remind you that every great man is one who thinks and acts for the sake of others. You become great when you are servants. The plan allows you to define the sacrifice required by your goals. With your plan, you know what kind of relationship you will need to build. The plan is a guide for you.

For example, a student who wants to pass his exams must plan how to use his days off, his free hours; he must plan how to strengthen his abilities in subjects where he is weak. This will allow him to know how to form his study group. It is the plan that defines whether he wastes his time at a certain point in the school year. The plan is the abstract bridge that connects your goals written on paper to their materialization.

Follow this light. Don’t be foolish. If during the execution of your plan, there are major obstacles that appear and require a partial or radical change in your life, do not hesitate to do so. However, always keep your eyes on your goals. And if you are believers, remain sensitive to the Lord who can also help you have another plan when yours fails, for He said: “My ways are not your ways.” That is to say, my plan is not the same as yours. After all, He is the Creator. If He decides to change your plan, consider yourself fortunate because He is telling you at that moment: my child, I have the situation under control. Plan, but plan with God and your goals will always be accomplished. The master Jesus gave this very important advice: BUILD A TOWER.

Confession: I am success. I declare that failure is not my portion. I was not born to fail. I have the wisdom needed to achieve the greatness established within me. I leave mediocrity for excellence. I accept success in my life. Through my renewed mind, I plan. I am divinely inspired and my plan becomes your plan. This plan leads me to my glory.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, inspire me through Your Holy Spirit so that I can learn to plan my life according to the mission you have entrusted to me. I have recognized through this book the importance of planning, I make a personal commitment from today to plan my days, my months, and my years in order to have a disciplined and fulfilled life.

This text is an excerpt from the book “52 Secrets to Fulfilling Your Prophetic Destiny” written by Apostle Joel AYATODE.

We invite you to read the following article “The Power of Imagination“.

Planning. Planning.