Here Are My Thoughts

READ: Proverbs 21

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5)

Finally! A Proverb that I can actually follow! If you didn’t know this about me, I’m a chronic over-planner. I love planning-removing as many unknown variables as possible and thinking through decisions thoroughly. I’m just being honest when I say that the ability to plan and think ahead has served me well in life. Do I still get stressed out? Yes, it’s unavoidable at times. I have an abundance of flaws, but I can say that planning as saved me a lot of heartache.

However, I realize that’s not the case for everybody. I know plenty of people who are plagued by procrastination, who struggle, in this fast-paced world, to get ahead and stay ahead of their schedule. For some, it’s the byproduct of an over-stuffed calendar-they are simply just too busy or overworked to do anything but live in chaos. And some, well, their minds just don’t work that way. They work hard and accomplish a lot, but it sometimes feels rushed, and brings about a lot of anxiety both for them and for those who work with them. These people are ruled by the tyranny of the urgent-they must do what is pressing, and everything feels pressing, because they can’t get ahead.

So here’s the good news. If you feel like you’re the people I just described, I believe that you can overcome that. I don’t think there would be a proverb about planning if only certain people were capable of doing it. And I actually don’t think it’s that difficult.

So here’s my encouragement to you: Carve out at least an hour this week to get ahead for next week. Just start small. Fight the urge to focus solely on what is urgent. Your future self will thank you. Because when you plan diligent, it leads to abundance.

-Brett