The Island of Failed Commitments Part II

Last post we started the blog series "The Island of Failed Commitments" and we have been discussing, you guessed it, failed commitments. I mentioned that although there are a host of reasons we fail to reach our goals and resolutions I see four main causes we fail to turn intentions into results. The first was "A Haphazard Oversight of Reality". So without further ado here is number two.

2) Failure to Plan
The second cause of failed commitments I see is a failure to plan. It's not an astounding principle, but if overlooked it will get you every time. Any commitment run into hastily or carelessly is less likely to succeed. Some basic planning and preparation can have a huge impact on our goals.

Take for instance the goal of losing twenty pounds. To simply say, "I am making a goal to lose twenty pounds by exercising and eating right" doesn't really qualify as planning. How are you going to exercise? Are you going to walk, run, lift weights, use a stair climber? If you plan to run are you going to run outside or are you going to need a treadmill? Do you need to join a gym? How are you going to eat right? Do you need to eat less or just eat better? Do you need to cut out fast food or cut back? Do you need to change your grocery shopping habits? These are all questions that demand an answer in order to achieve the target of losing twenty pounds. If you don't answer them ahead of time then they will each serve as an excuse and an obstacle to your progress. Planning and preparation will have a two-fold benefit. One, it will give you a game plan to follow to help you stay on target without feeling overwhelmed. Two, it will help you prepare for and guard against the excuses that are bound to come. If you decide you are going to start running set up a plan for running. Pick a distance you want to run, how often, and where. If you are going to run outside have a backup plan in case of bad weather so that you don't end up not exercising at all that day. Set up a plan for eating better. Decide what you need to cut out of your diet, whether that be quantity or quality. Decide to eat only three meals a day or to cut out fast food. If that means packing a lunch you will need to plan your grocery shopping in light of that. If you plan for these things ahead of time then you will have a plan of action when the excuses come. When it rains you know you will use your treadmill. When you can't pack a lunch you know you will get a salad instead of a burger.
These principles apply to every goal and commitment we will make from fitness goals, to relationships, to our walk with God, to our budget. A big area for this is devotions. We talked about this in Helpful Devotion Tips. To simply say "I want to read my Bible more" isn't much of a plan and I have found through personal experience that this doesn't cut it. Come up with a Bible reading plan. What you are going to read, when and where. It will take you a long way and help guard against the excuses to come.
So learn to plan. Learn to prepare, and remember people don't plan to fail; the fail to plan.