10 STEPS TO CHANGE

DREAMS INTO REALITY

Prayer is an integral part of any Christian endeavor. Therefore, it must be incorporated into any plans developed in the pursuit of dreams. It is vitally important to remember that our successes are directly linked to God's plan for our lives. Therefore, failure of our plans may indicate that God has different intentions for us. If this occurs, we must persevere in our search for success and continue to pray for His guidance and direction. Following are the ten steps I utilized to achieve my goals when preparing to enter the professional workplace. They worked for me and, if it is God's will, they will work for you, too.

1. Pray--Pray for guidance, that God's will be done, so that the outcome of action taken is pleasing to Him. Otherwise, the plan of action developed could be based upon personal desires, rather than His will. This would be detrimental to His goals and result in an uphill struggle as compared to a smooth journey.

2. Plan-Keeping Christ's principles in mind, what outcome(s) should be achieved? The outcome should be beneficial to all parties concerned, and not jeopardize Godly life by conflicting with the moral standards denoted in the Ten Commandments.

3. Set Goals--What needs to be accomplished in order to reach the planned outcome? Preliminary planning could include presenting plans to key persons, who either have the influence necessary to bring others on board or have the ability to assist with planning, organization, and fundraising. Other goals could be to research available grants or financial backing by organizations within the community or to write letters to political supporters who could influence the success of actions planned through their vote for pending legislation. Remember to keep Christ and his teachings at the center of all plans and goals.

4. Determine Deadlines-When do these goals need to be accomplished? Develop a calendar of events that forms a framework around which to build a plan of action. For example, fundraising events will need to be initiated before expenses can be paid.

5. Educate Yourself-Has this been attempted before? What worked? What didn't work? Are there college courses or professional seminars upcoming that pertain to the stated goals? Local colleges may have continuing education courses available in addition to the regular curriculum. Professional organizations may be offering seminars. Researching the Internet could provide contact information for successful people or programs, or other information, that can be of assistance to reach set goals.

6. Pray--Ask for God's help in planning a course of action. Ask that with His help personal dreams will be brought to fruition or, if they are not His will, that a better pathway be illuminated to facilitate accomplishing His will.

7. Develop an Action Plan-What actions are needed to reach these goals? How will the necessary funding be obtained? Who will accomplish the key tasks? What roles will others carry? Keep actions Christ-centered so as to give God the glory for successes obtained.

8. Network-This will enable the location of others with similar passion and who have the knowledge and/or skills to assist with the implementation of the action plan. Did researching the Internet locate possible contacts? Were college professors located that could provide information or assistance? Are there any local programs or professional seminars that could provide support? Stay connected with contacts and work with them as much as possible!

9. Be Persistent-If goals cannot be reached by the original deadline, redefine them, rethink the plans, set a new deadline and continue the quest for success. Remember that God's plan is not always clear to us, and what we perceive as failures may actually be learning exercises to prepare us for more important tasks related to His goals.

10. Pray-Continue to pray for God's will to be done, pray that actions taken will be sufficient to accomplish His will, and most importantly, when success is achieved, pray in Thanksgiving that with His help dreams are being accomplished through careful planning and persistent effort. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!