Have a Plan!

HAVE A PLAN. It is a statement, not a question. I was 14 years old when my dad started talking to me about having a plan. He emphasized that to finish well, you have to have a plan of where you are going and how you are going to get there. In other words, Have a plan, or system, or think about the repercussions you may have, if you don;t have some sort of plan in place. He wasn't knocking my spontaneous nature by any means, he was encouraging me to not be like people who make mistakes because they weren't thinking ahead. Here I am, at age 14, starting my first job and saving money for a car by age 16. "Phil, if you want a car, you better have a plan." That meant get a job, son. The "Have a Plan" speech carried over on a number of occasions. There was the "have a plan" talk about dating. It went something like this, "You better know where you are going and what you are doing, or you'll get yourself in a lot of trouble young man. Have a plan!" This "Have a Plan" played out in a variety of speeches. There was the sports version, the Friday night version, the college version, the employment version, the dating version, and life goals version. Today, I sit in an office 22 years later, and I am looking ahead so that I can "Have a Plan." This means I will know where I'm going, map out what needs to get done, and keep my priorities aligned correctly. In life, I'd say this Have a Plan is a great way to stay motivated and set yourself up for success. So, as I finish this up, I will fling my chair around and put my head into a calendar and map out my 2012 to some degree. Not in so much detail that it would make one go crazy, but I'm getting a plan together to accomplish great things. Friend, make sure you HAVE A PLAN!