The First Mistake Most People Make

Have you ever had a goal but never really got anywhere with it? Maybe it was a New Year's resolution to lose weight. You've always thought that it would be nice to drop some excess body fat. So, New Year's comes around and you say, "I'm going to lose weight this year."

Then, all excited and ready to go, you get a gym membership, you start working out 5 or 6 days per week, 1 to 2 hours at a time, and you start to see some results. You're feeling great, a little sore, but feeling great that you are taking action to reach your goals!

Then, a couple months go by and you realize that it's kind of tough trying to workout 5 or 6 days per week, especially when you go on the treadmill until you just can't go anymore and feel like you're going to collapse and fly off the treadmill! On top of that, you stopped seeing the results that you were getting before so you lose motivation and say, "is this really worth it?!" You give up, as do the other 90 some-odd percent of people who set a New Year's resolution, or any goal for that matter.

What went wrong? You ask yourself, "didn't I work out hard enough?" "Didn't I workout long enough?" "I didn't even eat any fat!" "What happened?!"

What Went Wrong?

Well, I can say, most people do make mistakes in the process. We all do and that's perfectly fine as long as we learn from them. However, the first mistake wasn't with your workout or your nutrition. In fact, it has nothing to do with any of that! The first mistake most people make is failing to plan.

Luke 14:28 says, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" 

As humans, we are eager to get results now! I do agree that there are times when we need to just jump in and figure things out as we go. However, most times it is best to plan ahead.

So What are the Step of Planning?  

1.) Vision! If you don't know where to aim, how are you ever going to hit your target?

2.) Why? "There's nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." 

3.) Obstacles. Take them out before they take you out.

4.) Action plan. What are the critical few steps needed to reach your vision?

5.) Just do it. Take emotions out of the equation and do it.

6.) Always rely on God and be ready for change!

We will dive deeper into each of these over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for "Start with Vision."

And as always, love God, love people.

-Chris Finley