Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 09, Issue 23: Start with a Plan

Do you ever find yourself so busy, yet at the end of the day or week you haven't tackled what you believe to be the most value addition for your role, what is most needed or expected from you. Do you find that you have been so busy but haven't worked on the things you know how to do so well but require a lot of concentration? In the absence of a strong plan, you allow urgent tasks to take over your days, and before you know it, you haven't really attended to what makes you stand out from the pack.

I wanted to revisit the importance of aiming at something everyday rather than letting the day take its own direction. In my work, I find that if I don't start with a plan of what I want to accomplish by the end of each day, I find myself busy with many other genuine tasks that steal away the time I should dedicate to achieving the goals I have determined to be the most important for the day.

What’s your plan for today? I find that if I don’t aim at something, whether it’s a work day at the office or weekend, I come to the end the day feeling not very fulfilled. Just because you leave your house to go to work every other morning doesn’t mean you are aiming at something. You could be just going through the motions, doing this and that but not necessarily doing what you must get done to arrive at your goals.

Whether it's professional work or otherwise, a lifetime goal is not something you leave for some day in the future, it is attained by your daily actions. Dreams rarely come to pass by chance, we make them happen by the things we do day by day. If I don't have a plan for my lunch break or other transition times, I end up wasting the time scrolling through my phone or something of the sort.

You need to have something you are aiming at every day for the different pockets of your time. Your goals may change as time goes by, but have some kind of a plan every day. Have a plan for the day for yourself, for you work, for your home, for the people in your life, and so forth. Things may not always go as planned, and that’s okay. What counts is that you had an intention for the day.

A goal gives you focus and pushes you to perform. You want to come to the end of your day feeling accomplished, knowing you gave it your all. It doesn’t have to be complicated. In addition to my slot by slot daily work calendar, most days my plan for lunch break is to read a few pages of a book, write a few paragraphs and check my messages or make a phone call. I have a solid plan of listening to podcasts when driving, meal prepping and while at the gym.

Every day, you’ve got to shoot at something. Have something you are targeting to accomplish for the day. If you get up every day and you’re not shooting at anything, you cut yourself short. At work, lay out what you want to accomplish that day and go for it. Do the same for your personal life, and for the people in your life. This is how we get ahead.

Every day, you’ve got to shoot at something. Some days may be all about work, and no play. Some days may have a little bit of both. Some days may have a lot going, stretching you to the limit, while other days you may plan to be a lot laid back. If I rest all day, it’s because I planned to rest all day, not that I got carried away by the couch or the remote when I had some kind of work planned.

Start your day with a plan, then do your best to stay true to your plan. You will accomplish your goals, and eventually, your dreams will become a reality.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi