People who failed didn’t plan to fail; they just failed to plan.

Think about it. Have you ever met anyone who planned to fail? Someone who wakes up in the morning and says, “Gosh, I really want to fail in life. I want to end up totally miserable. I want to end up divorced. I want to be hated by my family. I want to be broke forever and live in abject poverty. I want to suffer from a dreaded skin disease. Let me plan how to do this…”

Nope, I haven’t met anyone who planned to fail.

But I’ve met many who failed to plan.

Do you want to win in life? Then you have to plan to win.

Here’s the truth: Winners are planners.

A long time ago, a friend who was very religious told me, “I don’t plan. I just trust God. I just accept whatever happens as God’s will.”

I told her, “I think God wants us to plan.”

“How come?” she asked me.

“If God didn’t want us to plan, then He shouldn’t have given us a phenomenal brain that can imagine the future. The Bible also says, Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.(Proverbs 21:5)”

Do you want to prosper in every area of your life?

Then you have to plan to prosper…

How Long Is Your Timeframe?

One of the most glaring differences between successful and unsuccessful people is the timeframe of their thinking. Unsuccessful people always think short-term. They think about today, about this week, perhaps about this month.

When I was doing ministry work in a slum area, I’d ask the people there, “What do you want in life?” and they’re most common answer was, “Makakain lang ako ng tatlong beses sa isang araw, okay na…” (If I can eat three times today, I’ll be okay…)

But successful people always think long-term. And the longer their timeframe, the more successful they are. Successful people think about the next five years. Or the next ten years. Or the next twenty years. (Spiritual people are the most successful because we think really long term. We think of Heaven!)

Let me tell you why it’s important to plan…

Your Life Will Either Come

From Your Memory Or Your Imagination

Your life is a manifestation of your most dominant thinking.

In other words, your mind is the computer–and your life is the printout.

That’s why it’s important to plan.

Because there are two kinds of thoughts: Your memory and your imagination.

If you don’t plan, your life will be based on your memories–and that’s tragic. Because your future will simply duplicate your past. And that’s why an addict remains an addict. That’s why a depressed person remains depressed. That’s why a fearful person remains fearful. That’s why an unsuccessful person remains unsuccessful.

But if you plan, your life will be based on your imagination.

That’s why Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Let me go back to my computer analogy.

Some people print out the old files and old data stored in their computer memory. If you do that, you’ll have the exact same printouts again and again. Nothing will change in your life.

It doesn’t have to be that way. You can write new files. You can create new documents. And you can have new printouts!

People ask me, “So Bo, how do I plan?”

In three words, I’ll tell you how to plan.

Are you ready?

Here it is: Make it up!

Manufacture the plan from your imagination. Planning is creating a non-existent, future reality in your mind.

Learn to plan!

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez