Friday, August 19, 2016

Stick to your plans



Our Heavenly Father is a great example to us of someone who has made goals and kept them.  He has made big plans and has followed through on ALL of them and will continue to do so until everything He has promised will be fulfilled.

We know that God's work and glory is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"  This is His purpose and goal.  He came up with a plan to help us obtain all that He has and He taught it to us and gave us the opportunity to gain a body and tons of experience,  and His plan is AWESOME.

Part of His plan included our Savior, Jesus Christ who has also been an amazing example of someone who has done what He said He was going to do and will continue to accomplish His goals which are the same as our loving Father in Heaven.

Many prophets and leaders before us have also given us great examples of setting goals and accomplishing great things.

SO, we have these great examples and I want to be just like them, but what about the reality that I can't even get out of bed sometimes at an appropriate hour of the morning to get some simple scripture reading done before the kids wake up?  How come I can't seem to stick to a diet plan long enough to see real and lasting results?  Why do I sometimes forget that I made a plan and goal to not yell at my kids?  You know, the whole, I want to "change the world...instead, I sleep" thing.   I sometimes have feelings of despair  because of my inability to achieve perfection and for sure there have been times in my life where it felt like
"my life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes and dreams"  

But as most of my bosom friends know that
"To despair is to turn your back on God"


I think the devil likes us to despair and lose hope of accomplishing our righteous goals.  He wants us to wallow & dwell in our failures in hopes that we will abandon our attempts at improvement and progression.  He HATES it when we have feelings of hope and excitement for living life to our fullest potentials.  In other words, he hates goals and he loves to ruin our good plans, especially temple attendance, serving others, making our homes more peaceful, etc.

I remember on my mission, having to make goals with my companions and really trying our hardest to accomplish those goals, whether it was how many people we would talk to or invite to come to church, or how many people we would invite to be baptized.  It was something that I struggled with because I sometimes felt, it was in vain, even when we had great faith.  BUT, looking back now, I realize how valuable that goal setting and planning was because it gave us great purpose and focus.  Maybe we didn't  always accomplish everything we set out to do as missionaries, but we sure tried and that gave us power and strength, and a unity of mind and spirit. Looking back at the companionships that I set the most goals and made the most plans with, those were the most successful times of my mission.

What's my point?  I think we should look at goal making and planning with more of a, sorry to sound cliche, but a journey and not a destination.  Kind of like - checkpoints, landmarks, scenery, taking pictures, stopping to smell the roses and really noticeing how far we've come in our journey and how much closer we are to our destination because of the goals we've implemented in our life.  Enjoy the process and the development more. 

Ask yourself:   Where is this goal taking me?  What benefit will this plan bring to my life and to the lives of others?  Are my goals and plans in line with my divine nature and individual worth?  Am I on the right track or do I need to change course a little bit?  Are my plans in line with God's plan for me?  What is God's plan for me?  Do I need to set smaller, baby step goals?  Which goal can I set that will lead me to my next goal?  Is my family happy?  Is my marriage working?  If not, what goals can be made individually or together that will help get us to where we want to be? Are we being true to ourselves and each other?  Am I putting the essentials first?  How can I help my children set and keep their goals? These questions and so many others are productive questions to ask ourselves and have a little inventory with ourself from time to time.

Goal setting, goal keeping, and even goal breaking isn't about creating feelings of guilt -   though guilt can be a motivator for change, it's not necessarily a great place to linger longer. Sometimes, it's meant for a short quick visit and then a kiss goodbye.

Setting goals and making plans is about creating passion, drive, aspirations, hope, effort, recognizing weakness and then turning it over to God for help. It's about trying.  It's about recognizing our strengths and how much we can accomplish with the help of our Savior and His atoning sacrifice.  It's about being deliberate.  Writing things down and remembering.  Goal setting is not setting ourselves up for failure, it's about setting ourselves up for a greater purpose and focus. Sometimes, failing can be part of that purpose to give us experience and learning.  God wants us to make goals and He wants to help us achieve them.

Because I mess up on my diet plan for a couple of days or even months, doesn't make me a failure and doesn't mean I should just give up on my goals, it's about adjusting my mindset and realizing,
it's about progression, not perfection.  I can simply move on quickly, adjust anything I might need to adjust and stick to my goals and plans.

I'm sure grateful Jesus stuck to the plan!  
We can too.








Today's giveaway is about sticking to your plans and so I'm giving away a lot of things that stick.
Stickers from Farmwifebre that are made specifically for MMP planners.  Glue sticks, re-positional glue, cute glue gun, lots of washi tape, sticky notes, cute scrap paper, cute fridge magnets, motivational stickers and a cute storage box to store it all in.  Wahoo!








To enter today's giveaway is easy.  If you have already purchased an 2016-2017 academic planner or a yearly 2017 planner you are automatically entered into this giveaway.  For anyone that purchases the planner today, they will also automatically be entered into today's giveaway as well.  





26 comments:

  1. I needed to read this today! What a great post! I especially loved the Anne of Green Gables reference! My favorite! Now to go decide which planner I want so I can be entered in the contest....decisions, decisions! :-)

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  2. I love the post but unfortunately I can't enter. First I don't have the money right now and second the planner is my husband's Christmas gift to me and I can't ruin the surprise. Lol

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    1. I'll share with you Rikki if I win (:

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    2. I love my new planner I've already started putting things in it getting it ready for the new year ahead..

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    3. I'm also with you, Rikki!😞

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  3. LOVE THIS post. My planner just came 2 days ago, fingers crossed

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  4. Yay! I love the planner I ordered for next year & love these prizes! How fun!

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing this today- I needed to hear this this week. Can't wait for my new planner to come next month too!

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  6. I love these planner and goal setting is such huge part of mylife. I helps me see my progress even if it's small. Thanks so this give away opportunity.

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  7. Hello! I purchased my planner at Quilted Bear in American Fork. The 2016-2017 planner with green stripes. Does that mean I'm entered too?

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  8. I love this post! Thank you! I purchased my planner already & am working on some small goals. I would love to win these goodies!

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  9. I purchased a planner at Quilted Bear does that count?

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  10. Oh wow! I am itching to use my 2017 planner. I have already some some decorating and future planning on it!

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  11. When will the 2017 pdf version be available?

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  12. I LOVE this post!! So important to remember - it's about progress! You are awesome! Thanks for the reminder! Hopefully, I can buy a planner for 2017 soon! They are so cute!! Zack forgot to get me one last year. Boooo!!! Should I order one online or just drop by sometime? (Creeper!)

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  13. Boom 💥 Finally picked one and ordered it! #44262 yes!!!!!

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  14. Wow! How cool is this. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for this. This is back to school shopping is for moms!

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  15. Oh i want to win this! And u live the planner. It has so much!

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  16. I love all the quotes and how cute the are. I love following your blog as well...a little extra spiritual pick-me-up in the middle of my day :) so thank you for all you uplifting words!!!!

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  17. I just switched to the academic year & I love it so much I bought my girls the small & simple things. I would love to share this with them. We are learning to be better prepared & by doing that we are SLOWLY acheiving goals. Thank you for your thoughts here!

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  18. As cheesy or cliche as this may sound, when I started reading this post I could've believe how it's as though it was intended just for me. How some of those thoughts are eerily similar to thoughts or feelings I've recently had. I loved your image of goal setting being a journey not an end all. I needed to hear that. So thank you for sharing your testimony and example.

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  19. I love the inspirational posts you put up. Thanks for keeping me on the right bath

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  20. Loved reading Your post today, it touched my heart, i really needed it today. Thanks. I can't wait until mine comes! I also bought one for my daughter! Would love to share this with her.

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