I promised you strategy today so let’s get after it!
What is strategy? Strategy is a plan, method or series of maneuvers for obtaining a specific goal.
I found several definitions, but here’s the one I like best:
“A specific way of organizing your resources in order to consistently get a desired result.”
Do you notice that every time we hear about success, victory or change, we also hear about consistency? It’s impossible to get the results we want in any area of life without it. The bible calls it patience. Often people think patience is sitting backing waiting on God, but if you study it out, you will discover patience is a powerful force. It paints the picture of being consistently the same, moving in a certain direction even in the face of great opposition and opportunities to quit. That is not a passive position! It’s a position of power! Consistently enables us to stay the course to get to the end result and then continue to do what’s necessary to stay there once we’ve arrived.
In order for our strategies to work, they have to be something we can implement consistently. For example you can develop a strategy for weight loss that involves working out 90 minutes a day because it will help you accomplish your goal faster. However, if you only have 30 minutes a day to commit to exercise, you can’t consistently work the plan/strategy you’ve established so MAKE SURE YOUR STRATEGY WORKS FOR YOU!
Road Map
A successful strategy should serve as a roadmap or GPS. If I follow the directions, I’ll end up at the location. Have you ever entered an address in the GPS, followed it but ended up at the wrong place? I have and it can be frustrating. Once when we were in Oklahoma City looking for a gym and the GPS mapped it out, but it didn’t know about the construction that was taking place. No matter how many times we followed those instructions, we were never going to get to gym. That’s what it’s like to have a wrong strategy.
We each have strategies for our lives even if they are there by default…meaning it’s a routine we fell into because we failed to develop a strategy. Unfortunately, those strategies get us results, but not the ones we want. If I come home every day, eat dinner and sit in front of the television until bed time, snacking, then my strategy guarantees weight gain even though that’s not what I want. So I have to be mindful of the strategy I’m establishing with my actions.
Ok now that we’ve covered that, let’s look at the Seven Components of an Effective Strategy. As always there could be more and if you think of more add them to the comments so everyone can take advantage of them.
1. Don’t just think it – INK IT! Put it in writing! In the Old Testament, God told one his prophets (Habakkuk) to “write the vision and make it plain so when those who read it could run with it.” Think of it this way…it must be important for you to write your strategy in a manner that’s easy to follow because God said do it! Is it possible that God knows something we don’t? Absolutely! One thing He knows is that writing a vision helps you stay committed and remember why you need to make certain choices.
“Reduce your plan to writing…The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.” Napoleon Hill
2. Dream again – What did you want to be a child? I’m sure you had many plans. You might want to be an artist on Monday, a surgeon on Tuesday and a teacher on Wednesday. Until some (not so helpful) adult told that you couldn’t be all of that. Here’s my question? Who says? Is there something in the Bible that says you have to do the same thing all of your life? Of course not. So it’s ok to have big dreams of doing lots of great things. If you don’t finish them all here, maybe you’ll pick it up in heaven! So dream Big…
3. What’s your BHAG – It stands for “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” Have you heard of it? It’s a term coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their book, “Built to Last.” They found that the one factor that was common among successful efforts that was missing from unsuccessful efforts was “the use of ambitious, even outrageous goals to motivate people and focus them toward concrete accomplishments.” Bill Gates has been quoted as saying, “if an idea at his company isn’t laughed at least three times then it’s too small.” But I think the most important reason to think BIG is that if you can accomplish it in your strength, then it didn’t come from God. I believe God gives us big dreams so that we can accomplish them together. He gives us a dream and then helps us make it come to pass. We handle the natural (with His wisdom) and He handles the supernatural. It’s those big dreams that change the world or at least your world.
4. Expect to Succeed – Decide what you want to accomplish and focus on that. Don’t spend all of your time focusing on the problems you could encounter. A good strategy will help you navigate the setbacks, but don’t let the fear of failure or the unknown stop you from starting. Trust that God doesn’t give you desires to set you up to fail. He wants you to accomplish them, but you need to believe in what He has placed in you. You must have confidence in what you can accomplish even if no one else does.
5. Bring your dreams into the present – Often the reason our faith doesn’t work is because we keep it in the future. We don’t see it as a present reality. What separates people who finish college from those who don’t? It’s not intelligence…it’s how they see themselves. The moment I started college I saw that degree as mine! It’s how I keep going to school even when there many opportunities to stop. Begin to see yourself at your ideal weight or debt free or whatever you’re dreaming about and watch your life line up.
6. Be sure your goals are YOUR goals – As I’ve told you before a large number of people hate their jobs. Could it be that many of these people selected jobs based on what others (parents, teachers, spouses and friends) expected from them? Maybe they chose what they “should” do instead of what their heart desired. If your goals aren’t really your goals even if you manage to be successful, you will never be fulfilled.
7. Make sure your goals agree with your values – If you are a Christian, those values need to be in line with what God values. But even if you aren’t a Christian, you can’t be successful violating your core values. If you violate the basic values of integrity, treating others right and hard work, it will affect you mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Goals must fit your values, standards and desires. If they don’t I becomes very difficult to remain committed to see it to the end.
Take some time to look at these steps. Ask yourself the tough questions and answer honestly. Write your vision and strategy down, and then follow it. Lastly be committed to your goal, but flexible in your approach. You may have to make modifications along the way, but that’s ok, just keep moving forward asking God to lead you!
