Meet Andy and Bob.

Andy and Bob both want to lose weight.

If you ask Andy about his weight-loss plan, he’ll tell you: “I want to be healthy enough to play ball with my kids, so I plan on losing twenty-five pounds in the next six months. To do this, I’m going to eat smaller, healthier meals and exercise regularly. I just joined a gym, where I’m going to work out twice a week with a personal trainer. I’m also walking once a week with a friend who also wants to lose weight. I’m starting today, and I’ll do whatever it takes to reach my goal.”

Ask Bob how he plans on losing weight, and he’ll tell you: “I don’t have a plan. Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘If you want to make God laugh, make a plan!’? I’ll just trust that if I’m supposed to lose the weight, I’ll lose the weight.”

If you had to put money on Andy or Bob, which one would you bet will lose weight?

(Me too.)

Now, losing 25 pounds may not be your dream. Maybe you want to write a critically acclaimed novel or sell your paintings in a gallery or raise a million dollars for charity. Regardless of your specific goals, however, having (and implementing) a plan will greatly increase the odds that your dream will come true.

You probably know that it’s helpful to mak a plan, but how can you do it effectively? Here are the three steps of planning that I consider most important:

The 3 Steps of Planning

1. See Your Dream

Have you heard people say, “Begin with the end in mind”? This is absolutely critical. If you don’t know where you want to end up, how on earth do expect to get there? The more specifics you can envision, the more likely you’ll be to realize your dream.

It also helps to know why you want to realize it!

Think of our friend Andy: He doesn’t just want to lose “some weight”—he wants to lose 25 pounds in 6 months. And he has a good reason: to be healthy enough to play with his kids.

2. Reverse-Engineer Your Dream

Work backwards, step by step, from the end to where you are now. Ask yourself: “For my dream to come true, what would have to happen? And what would I have to do in order for that to happen?” And so forth, until you figure out what you would have to do now to make the next step happen. Create a realistic schedule for doing each step along the way, and commit to it!

3. Take Action

Once you’ve reverse-engineered yourself back to the present—and figured out what action you’d have to take to get to the next step—do it! So often dreams remain merely dreams, and plans remain merely plans. (That’s probably why plans get such a bad rap—and also why the term “dreamer” is so often used pejoratively.)

Go Ahead—Make God Laugh!

When people say, “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan,” what I suspect they really mean is, “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan and then expect it to work out exactly the way you imagined it every step of the way, right down to the tiniest detail.”

Yes, this would be a laughably unrealistic expectation. However, this doesn’t mean that making plans is stupid or useless. On the contrary, plans are what separates “pipe dreams” from dreams that actually come true! Plans bridge the gap from “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” to “Won’t it be nice when…”!

Sure, sometimes people may stumble blindly into their dreams. But do you honestly believe that you have a better chance of achieving your most cherished dreams without making a plan?

Now that would really make God laugh!

…

Do you have any plans you’d like to commit to? Any stories of success (or struggles) with past plans? I’d love to hear anything you’d like to share.

Ready for the next step? See my post, 4 Tips for Following Through with Your Plans.

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(photo by Supersport)