A 5 step energizing process to get your plans off paper into practice

Once you have prayerfully established your personal growth plan and set some annual goals, it's important to develop a routine process so that the goals get off the paper and become your action steps, your to dos.

Over the years, I have been fairly effective in establishing goals but, too often, sadly ineffective in turning my intentions into actions.

I've come up with a new process that seems to be helping me. I have found this process to be... well, fun! Perhaps it would help you, too.


A 5 step process to get your plans off paper into practice

1. Review. Set a specific time each week to review your personal growth plan and your goals. A good time might be Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening. It can be a relaxed, low-pressure time to plan ahead.

2. Focus. Create a separate page for each one of your goals. This will give you the room on the paper that you will need for re-setting and recording progress. It also gives you room to set strategy and tactics relative to each goal.

3. Rejoice. Write down the progress you have made regarding each goal. This will give you a chance to celebrate the things that God has enabled you to accomplish in the previous week. Your celebration is a source of encouragement and motivation.

4. Strategize. Think through and write down next immediate steps regarding your goal. You need not think about the big things that will complete the goal. Instead, you need just think about smaller steps that will keep you moving toward the completion of the goal.

5. Activate. On a separate sheet of paper, create a to do list for the rest of the week based on the immediate next steps you want to take regarding each goal. This is the sheet you will work from as you develop and prioritize your daily to do list.

This doesn't have to be a laborious duty. Redeem some of the time as you watch a movie, a football game, a basketball game, a golf tournament, or a baseball game. If you feel you must focus more, then take 30- 45 minutes before you go to bed on Sunday night to help you plan the upcoming workweek.

See, your unreviewed and un-reset goals will, no doubt, go unrealized. So, use your Sunday as a day of prayer and preparation for the coming week

If you will follow this process 52 times a year, you will find that, by God's grace and for His glory, you will have turned your God- given intentions into Spirit-enabled actions.

May God bless you as you seek to actualize your personal growth plan.