God always has a plan; doesn’t it make sense that we emulate God’s success? Not only does he have a plan, but he has us helping to work it for Him sometimes. The key is that He has a plan, develops His thoughts, and then He works it. We can and should learn from Him. 

Exodus 25 1 – 40

In detail, God told Moses exactly what he wanted for supplies from the Israelites, what to use it for, how to craft it and had a pattern for everything.

The first step is to approach everything with prayer. From there learn from one of the best examples, Noses. The man led the Israelites out of captivity and to the border of the promised land. As Geoff Loftus in his article, Holy Moses! How to Lead to the Promised Land; “ Moses benefited from excellent performance coaching from his chairman. God laid out his expectations (take the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land) and the laws to follow along the way (the Divine version of an Executive Performance Plan). God and Moses communicated frequently and honestly about problems with the competition, employees and customers. And you might think everything was a pronouncement from the chairman to his CEO, but this was two-way communication. Moses explained to God about his setbacks in negotiations with Pharaoh, and God gave him guidance and active support.”

Noah is next. Here we have someone who others thought was crazy. Does that sound familiar? Most people I talk to think that going into business is one of the craziest things a person can do. But if it wasn't for us crazy's where would the world be?

Genesis 6 11-21

God gave explicit instructions on how to build the ark, what supplies to bring, and exactly what to do with the animals

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

So make yourself an ark of cypress[fn] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[fn]

Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[fn] high all around.[fn]Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.

Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.

You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

And we are here today as a result.

 

 

 

 

 

Creating Your Plan

Keep a record of everything. As you work through your action plan, keep notes of everything. You may find it helpful to have a binder with different tabs in it to section off different aspects of your planning process.  The following are some examples of the sections. I like to use SCHEMES and schemes stand for:

• Space – what do you need for space or location.
• Cash – how much start-up cash do you need?
• Helpers/People – advisors, employees, partners?
• Equipment – what type of equipment and investment do you need?
• Materials – how many, where are you putting them, and what is the cost?
• Expertise – do you have the chops, what do you need to add, what can you hire?
• Systems – create your system so that things become natural and then you can experiment and go crazy?

 

Know what you want to do. The clearer you are about what you want to do, the more effective your plan will be. Try to specifically define what you want to achieve as early as possible — preferably before starting your project.

Make Sure Your Goals Are SMART.

Smart goals give you clarity and a deadline for achieving them. Here is a basic definition of  SMART goals:

Specific: Your goal needs to be clearly defined. “I want to make more money,” is vague. “I want to make $10,000 per month,” is specific. Set goals in the following areas; spiritual, family, healthy, business, then finance.

Measurable: Your goals need to be measurable to be achievable. It provides you with a ring to reach for and a way to know you arrived. This is where being specific helps.

Attainable: It’s good to set goals that make you stretch and challenge yourself.  Being unreasonable is setting yourself up for frustration and failure. You can always keep upping the ante, but you lose positivity if you keep falling short.

Relevant: Your goals should fit within your ultimate plans in life. If your goals don’t excite you, move you, inspire you – don’t do them.

Time: Always set a date by which your goal will be achieved. This will help you stay focused on your purpose.

Be specific and realistic in your planning. Having a specific goal is just the beginning: you need to be specific and realistic in every aspect of your project — for example, by stating specific and achievable schedules, milestones, and final outcomes.

Set measurable milestones. Milestones mark significant stages along the road to achieving your end goal. Create milestones easily by starting at the end (the accomplishment of the goal) and working your way back to your present day and circumstances.

Break large tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks.

Make scheduled lists. Make a list of tasks that you need to complete in order to hit your milestones. A list on its own will not be effective — you must write this list into a timeline associated with specific, realistic actions.

Mark things off as you go. Marking things off as you go will not only feel satisfying, it will help you keep on track lest you forget what you’ve already done

Don’t stop until you’ve reached your final goal. Once your plan is established and shared with the team (if applicable), and your milestones are scheduled, the next step is simple: take daily actions to achieve your goal.