New planner!

So I just recently got one of those monthly planners that separates your days into hours so that you can better plan out in detail your schedule. Growing up, my dad always used one of these things, and I honestly never imagined myself using one.

I’m also guessing that August isn’t much of a money-making month for those who sell yearly calendars, so I can feel good about myself for helping the calendar people in their time of need.

Personally, I am not very detail oriented at all, I am very much a big picture person. However, if I am not careful, this can lead me to dreaming about what I want to be doing in the future while I am not taking any steps to get there. It seems that if there was one word to describe the difference between those who are most successful and those who are not, it would be this:

Intentional.

Proverbs uses the analogy of an ant to show this principle.

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

-Proverbs 6:6-8

It isn’t just that the ant works hard, it’s that the ant does it without being told. Ants are intentional about preparing in the summer so that they can survive in the winter. We all have the same amount of time in the day, but it is those that are intentional with their time that make the most of it.

By better planning out my days, not only does it help me plan my time wisely, but it also lets me plan time for rest. If you’re like me, you’re tendency is to always be doing something. However if we feel like we must always be doing something, it may be an indicator that we don’t trust that God will sustain us if we aren’t always doing. As humans, we also need time to rest. Mark writes (2:27),

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

So whether you work too much or you don’t work hard enough you must be intentional with your time. No one who is successful in what they do got to where they are because they only did things when they felt like it. Great leaders and effective people all have one thing in common; they are intentional.

What can you do to be more intentional in your life?