It’s okay if you don’t like to plan out your day, your goals, or your next move. And you don’t have to meticulously plan every detail of your life.
But here me out. Do take time to add planning and organizing to a part of your life’s journey.
“For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned” – Benjamin Franklin
According to Cornerstone Dynamics, in the last 20 years, working time has increased by 15 percent, and leisure time has decreased by 33 percent (Karina Keith, Time Management Stats That May Surprise You).
According to Forbes.com, fifty-two percent of planners reported having time for social life, and 44 percent had enough time for themselves (Bryan Robinson, Ph.D., New Study Shows Career Benefits In Planning Versus Procrastinating To Reduce Stress).
So, if work time has increased, and life gets much more complex as we get older, why not set aside a few minutes a day or several minutes a week to plan your time, your goals and tasks to prioritize and organize.
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT
I have always been a planner, a to-do lister. It helps me to declutter mentally, maintain productivity, and stay goal-oriented.
Whether you are using a paper/physical planner or a digital planner, there are many benefits to using one as it is one of many tools to aid you through this journey of life.
Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. Habakkuk 2:2 NLT
Benefits of Using A Planner:
Using a planner can help you get organized.
Using one can increase productivity.
Can build your motivation in accomplishing your goals.
Planning and organizing can help decrease stress.
Strengthen your self-discipline.
Help you manage your time.
Improves your focus.
Reduces anxiety and prioritizes well-being.
Sort through the chaos of a busy schedule.
Makes it easier to remember tasks.
What other benefits does using a planner bring?
Although I highly recommend using a planner, I must remind you a few things. Using a planner is not a quest for being perfect. Don’t forget to also allow spontaneity in your life. We should not idolize planning or plan without action or without seeking the Lord’s wisdom, will, and heart. With that said, remember the scripture below:
Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 NLT
Without God, we can do nothing. Without God involved, our planning is futile. Commit your actions to the Lord. Submit to God, and depend on Him, and allow Him to lead you to success.
Lastly, planners can help you manage your time, prioritize tasks, and organize your short-term and long-term goals. In doing so, you increase your productivity as well as your personal time to relax, refuel, and reengage with loved ones.
The new edition of the CPR Planner is available!!!
The CPR planner helps you to continue your healing journey by exploring where in your life you need CPR (Calm, Peace, and a Refreshing). This planner has been updated with a new look and some new additions to help you continue staying on top of your daily, weekly, and monthly planning.
What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?
I will get straight to it. My daily habits that improve my quality of life are:
Making my bed every morning. It is a small discipline that makes a big impact. “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another”–William McRaven
Pray or acknowledge God. Let me be honest. I am not always stopping to pray in the morning but better believe by the end of the day, I have sat down with God in my heart to say thank you, share my heart, pray for my self or someone else. And I am learning to listen more because prayer with God is a dialogue and not a bringing of a list of wants. Yes, come to Him with what you need and even discuss your wants. To clarify, bring to Him every content of your heart (everything including fears, disappointments, goals, etc.) but make sure you learn to listen to what is in His because He knows what is best for us. His purposes always come to pass and His plans always succeed. Moreover, prayer is about getting to know God and inviting Him into every area of your life.
Read the Word of God. I don’t care if it is the YouVersion scripture of the day or a random chapter or a chapter or three of a God-led lesson I am currently studying, I read His Word. Have I missed a day or two or three? Honestly, yes, but it makes so much of a difference when I sit down to read and hear His Word.
Another daily habit of mine is making a list of things I am grateful for. This puts things in perspective and lifts my spirit as I list all of the things I am grateful for, no matter how small they may seem.
This isn’t daily but I go over my goals list. I have always been goal oriented and like to reflect on and assess my goals and where I am in accomplishing them.
I also journal or work in my planner. This helps me to sort out my thoughts, plan and stay organized.
Lastly, I make a daily habit of choosing to get up and choose peace and to better myself. Thank God for His grace to be able to do so.
Let’s Take This One Day At A Time Planner Available at Amazon.
I came across an old movie, one with Ben Matlock. Lol, I mean Andy Griffith. But I am sure some Gen Z’s may not know Andy Griffith or even his Ben Matlock character from his Matlock TV series. In this movie I was watching, Andy Griffith plays John Wallace, who is some well-known land owner in his town. John Wallace has to definitely be a narcissist. And at the end of the movie is when I realize just how much he is one. In the end, Wallace tries to compare himself to the man who takes him down for his murderous crime as well as expresses himself as a man of power.
But it is the sheriff’s (played by Johnny Cash) response that stuck out to me. “How powerful is the man who can’t control themselves,” Sheriff Lamar states.
Now I suspect that Wallace would not care about self control when he loves power and is a narcissist but developing discipline and self-control is so necessary and beneficial in every area of our lives.
Self-control, according to Google, is the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult situations.
Self-control comes in handy when you need ammo to fight temptation. When you need to regulate your emotions. When you need to accomplish a goal. When you need to push through a hard season. When you want to get even.
Don’t underestimate the power of having self control and discipline. The quality of your life depends on it. Don’t aim for perfection but do aim to build self-control. Let us heal, grow, take care of ourselves and build our discipline and self-control. Let us trust God and lean on God for the grace to do so.
Oh, my apologies, the movie is called Murder in Coweta County.
Let’s Take This One Day At A Time Planner available at Amazon!
I don’t play sports at all and I know nothing about football. Yet, I have seen a football in the hands of an athlete, held tightly like it was a gold nugget, and being carried through the hustle and bustle of other players serving as obstacles aiming for a chance to steal the ball and thwart the player’s chance to make it safely to the opponent’s end zone. And so I think about what if the player, who is carrying the football, fumbles and drops it. He must carry the ball and protect it with his force, focus and perseverance.
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23 NLT
How much so must we guard our hearts, not our physical hearts (which need taking care of too) but the part of our being that carries our souls. Our hearts are more valuable than a football. Our hearts are the breeding grounds for thoughts and seeds to be planted, and prayerfully the right seeds. They are the epicenters of our emotions, wills, desires, intellects, goals and dreams, etc.
Now, I am no expert on the body, soul and spirit either but I do know we are a three part being (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We possess all three: a spirit, body, and soul. All three must be tended to with care in order to function in this earth realm and live a quality life. And moreso to fulfill our God-given destinies.
So back to our hearts. Just like our bodies, our hearts are so vital to our existence here on earth. Our hearts exude our perspectives on things and direct our actions. It is crucial that our hearts our cared for and guarded because they are just as precious, valuable, and imperative to who we are and how we impact the world around us. So, let us protect and care for our hearts. And remember every part of our being matters to God, our bodies, souls and spirits.
So, why must we guard our hearts. Well, first we must remember that if we have to guard something, it is because it is valuable. We guard our hearts because our hearts are:
1. Valuable
2. Necessary for survival
3. Will impact others in some kind of way.
Our hearts and we in totality are valuable to God and to each other. Moreover, relationships are imperative for our survival, relationship with God and relationship with others. We were all created with purpose, talents and gifts that are to be operated in good stewardship, wisdom, and according to God’s will to help and bless others. We are valuable and we are here to make an impact in the lives of others. And we as the Body of Christ especially should be impacting others through the wisdom and love of God.
Now lets look at the second reason we must guard our hearts. We must guard our hearts because we have an enemy.
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NLT
1. We have an enemy, the devil, to protect our hearts against.
2. The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy.
3. The mind is often our biggest battlefield.
Anxiety, depression, and suicide is on the rise. The minds and attention of our youth are gravely under attack. Parenting is difficult more than ever. Marriages are crumbling. Perversion, lovers of self, and haughtiness are growing rapidly. Destinies and dreams are also going to the graves. And a person with a wrong perspective, unguarded heart, and one wrong decision can derail his/her future. Some of us are courting secret sins and shame, and I am talking about those of us in the Body of Christ. Some of us are in despair and straddling the fence with God, losing hope and zeal for God. Let us guard our hearts. Let us repent and draw close to God.
So, let’s look at that again:
We must guard our hearts because they are valuable epicenters that house our thoughts, emotions, intellects, wills, etc. that not only affect us but others. And we have an enemy that sees this and wants to distort our epicenters, derail our destinies, steal how we see ourselves and others, kill our hopes and dreams, and destroy the very things (like relationship) that God created us to use to impact the world around us.
Guarding our hearts mean to protect and care for them. Plain and simple. And now we know from who and why we must guard our hearts. So now how?
Guard your heart by protecting its gates (eye gates, ear gates, etc.):
1. What are you watching? 2. What are you listening to? 3. What are you saying to yourself or others? 4. What are you meditating on?
Guard your heart by taking every thought captive.
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT
Catch them thoughts and check them? Is this a thought lined up with the beliefs of God? Is this a thought from God or the enemy? What are you rooting your belief system in: witchcraft, conspiracy theories, what they say, or God? We cannot serve two masters. Are you feeding your spirit with the Word of God? It is so easy to just let your thoughts slide. But we have to have discipline over what we allow in our heads and what we allow to dominate our thoughts. People who are anxious tend to worry about the future. They tend to overthink and worry and struggle with a spirit of fear. People who tend to struggle with lust need to address when they tend to lust and what does the lust feed on. Pray that God destroy every proud obstacle that keeps us from knowing Him and that He captures our rebellious thoughts and teaches us to obey Him. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 NLT
Guard your heart by reading the Word of God and meditating on it.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12 NLT
His Word cannot return to Him void. Get His perspective, His views, His thoughts and His wisdom on the matter, about you and the world that surround you.
Guard your heart by developing discipline and obeying God’s word.
It is not enough to just hear and read God’s word but we must obey God. Trust His intentions and purpose for us are good. Do not harden our hearts when we hear God’s voice. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. Seek God for help. Rely on His grace for it is sufficient. His strength, power and Word enables us to develop the mindset and discipline we need to live pleasing before God. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8 NLT
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. James 1:22-24 NLT
Now mentioning seeing yourself,guard your heart by seeing yourself the way He does.
It is so imperative to see yourself the way God does. If we are unable to see ourselves the way He does then I wonder if we are truly able to live, act and respond from the most authentic place. Can we really dwell richly in God’s love, that is unconditional and pure? Can we wholly communicate and impact from the Creator who created us with such a zeal and impact that is necessary? If we are unable to see ourselves the way God does, are we leaving cracks in the epicenter that let the enemy slip in?
So there you have it! It is not easy to guard something right? We have to have sharp focus. We have to persevere through countless obstacles and not give up. We have to be vigilant in watching and praying. We have to discipline our thoughts and that alone takes work and surrender to God. We have to not naively guard our hearts because we have a constant enemy. We have to remember the value of that which we are protecting. And we have to guard our hearts as we allow God to prune us and develop us in the fear of the Lord and wisdom of God as well as help us to bear fruit and subsequently more fruit, showing ourselves to be disciples of Jesus. Listen. Moreover, every human should not be guarding their hearts to restrict love, but guarding their hearts so that they can truly love. But to guard our hearts we need Jesus and His grace to be able to do so. We need God’s wisdom and Helper to direct us and heal us to guard our hearts and to also be able to walk in His love and receive His love. That is the last reason why we should guard our hearts. To walk in God’s love and receive it. Let us break it down further; we should guard our hearts:
1. to not be hindered in receiving the love God has for us and
2. to be able to love others as we love ourselves, and lastly but not least
3. …”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
Start today in guarding your heart by asking God for wisdom and grace to do so. Gather some scriptures to post on your wall or mirror and meditate upon them daily. Set a plan in place to guard your heart and seek to draw closer to God who loves you with an unfailing love.
Tannika Nikeya 