January 15, 2024 - PLAN the WORK!

I ended last week’s Game Plan with the statement “Great players become great because they ‘fall in love with the work!’” That got me thinking about the dry erase board I typically keep up in my office… I put a “permanent” message on it that states “Plan the Work… Work the Plan!” And to be transparent, this was not a brilliant phrase I came up with, but instead taken from John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success which has “Industriousness” as one of its cornerstones. This cornerstone has two parts, work and planning.

So, with this theme early in the new season, maybe you are already struggling with meeting your New Year’s resolutions… to that I will quote Wooden: “Nothing will work unless you do.”

I thought about different pictures of this… I envisioned all the times I pull up “maps” on my trip planning… I start with “goals”, what destinations we want to reach. This process begins with an overarching view of the map showing the starting and ending points; BUT THEN I have to zoom in and determine what roads will get us there. I determine the roads, the mileage, where we will sleep, where we will eat, etc. There is a lot of planning involved… and a lot of counting the costs. Then the work begins! Looking at points on a map doesn’t make one a world traveler!

All of that planning is followed by fundraising, vehicle maintenance, booking the lodging, and ultimately putting the key in the ignition for the proverbial “this is where the rubber meets the road.”

Be encouraged this week to figure out your plan… but make sure you remember that maps include roadways…

Jesus gave a great discipleship lesson in Luke 14, which is a great lesson for goal setting: 28-30 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?

So, this week’s Game Plan is centered on Plan (Map Out) the Work… [You “set” goals… you “plan” work!] (Next week I plan to discuss focus on the work…)