Five Years From Now

Do You Have a Plan?

Have you ever thought about where you will be five years from now? What about where you want to be five years from now? Do you plan to finish a degree? Have more children? Begin homeschooling your children? Own a home? Take a family vacation? Buy a new car? Get out of debt? Have the perfect job? Follow the call God has put on your life?
Do you have a plan?
My sister and I are in the process of creating our own independent private school for homeschooling families in our area. We have a plan in place that lays out just what we want to accomplish each year and have an effective means of measuring those goals. We have a plan in place.
I have a plan in place for the next three years for my books. I know essentially what I will write about, when I need to the book to be completed and ready for editing and when the book will be published. I did that with my first book, too. I wrote down my plans and goals for that book. A measurable goal with a deadline that would signify that I accomplished the goal and if I met the deadline set. You can do that with your dreams and goals, too!
We've talked a lot about vision boards and this accompanies that in a very unique way. You see, you must dream in detail for your five year plan. Far more detail than setting a goal on a vision board such as "publish 2 books by 2013." Now there is nothing wrong with setting those goals. But if you are planning a goal of remodeling a kitchen, for example, what does that look like? You may very well have a goal of completing the remodel by November 2014. It is measurable, but what does it look like? How much will your remodel cost? What sort of cabinets do you want in your new kitchen? What will the color of the back splash be? Will there be a back splash? This is where a plan book can come in handy. You can clip or print off pictures of particular aspects of a kitchen that you like and get pricing for them. If you're planning a vacation or anniversary celebration, you can get details and put them in a notebook. Then you must act.

Action is a required part of your plan. It's not just enough to write down your goals. You have to look at them often and do things to move yourself closer and closer to accomplishing that goal. And you have to expect favor as you move toward completing the plan. Hebrews 9:11 says, "Jesus Christ has become the High Priest of good things to come." We need to confess that and believe it as we pursue our plans because we don't want to stay where we're at five years from now; we want to see goals achieved and dreams coming true!

Blessings!