We all make plans and they run through our minds constantly. If you are a planner, you probably already know what you will be eating for dinner, or where you’ll be going next week, or what your goals are for the rest of the year. It is good to make plans, but it is even better to make plans prayerfully. Taking the time to pray before making our plans, especially the most intricate ones, helps us to practice involving God in our daily lives. As Christians, everything we do should be for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10: 31), and with God’s blessing, the things we plan for can bear much fruit!

Proverbs 16: 9 states, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

If you are still thinking about how to plan and set goals for the year purposefully, the SMART method is one that could help.

1. S – Specific: Make your goals as specific as possible. If your goals are too general, it may not be clear later down the line exactly what you want to accomplish.
2. M – Measurable: Your long terms goals as well as some short-term goals should have milestones or “checkpoints” within them, with which you use to measure your progress thus far.
3. A – Actionable: Goals should involve action. List the steps you would take to get to each milestone and eventually accomplish the goal.
4. R- Realistic: Faith can make us bold. However, be aware of where you stand currently and make your goals reasonable and attainable.
5. T – Time-Targeted: Make deadlines for each goal and milestone. The deadline will be an opportunity to reassess and evaluate what was accomplished.

God is pleased with our intentional and careful planning but let us not forget God is the one who directs our steps and all the beautiful thoughts and ideas that flow into our minds. He directs us through the planning, the execution, and the result.