Planning with Purpose – Moving Into the Second Half of the Year

This week we are rounding out our series for the month of June on Mid-Year Momentum. We have talked a lot this month about reflecting, refocusing, and reigniting. In addition, we did a mid-year reflection with God where we talked about how to reignite passion for your calling and what we can do about burnout. Today we are going to talk about planning with purpose for this next season. It’s time to recommit and move forward intentionally with a God-honoring plan.

Planning Matters

Planning isn’t about hustle. It’s about faithful stewardship. There are a couple of scriptures that come to mind when I think about this. The first one is Proverbs 16:3: Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The second verse is Luke 14:28: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and establish the cost or estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” You have to be a good steward. That doesn’t just mean with your money; it also means with your time.

We are going to talk about how to reframe the purpose of planning. It is not to control the outcome but to walk and step with God’s direction and to prepare wisely. When you plan with God, you invite peace into the process. We’ve talked about the midyear assessment. Some questions we have asked ourselves are, What’s working in your business? Is there anything not working in your business? And what do you sense God is calling you towards now? You have to shift your goals sometimes mid-year. July starts the second half of 2025, so we are nearing that midpoint now. Just because a goal made sense in January doesn’t mean it fits God’s purpose for July.

12-Week Year

If you’ve listened to my podcast a lot, you’ve probably heard me talk about this for years now. The 12 Week Year is a book by Brian P. Moran. I use The 12 Week Year; it really helps me to set my goals and achieve them because of the fact that it breaks down your goals into twelve weeks. My first twelve weeks of the year ran from January 6th to March 28th. This podcast came out on June 30th, so we just finished the second twelve weeks. The third twelve weeks will begin on July 7th. I use the twelve-week-year planning method because it helps me with my goal setting and with breaking my goals down into manageable pieces.

Spirit-Led Goals

Let’s talk about how you could set some spirit-led goals for the next twelve weeks. Ask yourself these five questions as you begin to think about setting your goals for these next twelve weeks.

1. What is one to three goals that align with your current season and calling? Don’t try to set too many goals. Many times people overdo it and that’s when they feel like they are failures. Set one to three goals every 12 weeks. The last 12 weeks my three goals were to get consistent and stay consistent with doing a specific practical task in my business. My second goal was to read two books. I’ve actually already hit that goal. Finally, my third goal was to earn a specific amount of money in my business. If my income for June is reflective of what I’ve made in April and May, I will definitely meet that goal.
2. Is there anything you need to release or let go of? We talked last week about burnout and how when you have burnout, that usually means you need to lay some things down.
3. Do you need to recommit to anything? For me, I really needed to commit to doing my DMO every week because otherwise I wasn’t going to be able to move forward, and my business was not going to be consistently growing like I wanted it to.
4. What margins do you need to build in? We all need margins in our lives. We don’t need to have every moment filled with a task or something to do.
5. How do you stay spiritually grounded as you pursue these goals? I want to encourage you with a couple more verses. Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Then the Lord replied, ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. So write down your vision and make it plain.”
   
   James 4:13-15 says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.'” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” It is important to hold our plans loosely with humility because God may have other plans.

This Week

I want to encourage you to use something like a tool, planner, vision board, or the twelve-week year method so that you can have a way to track your plans and your progress. I would also like to emphasize that prayer is a key component in every season that we plan. Finally, set yourself some goals. Maybe you need to set one spiritual goal, one business goal, and one rest or wellness goal for the next 90 days. Think about what small obedience step you can take this week on your goals.

Join The Christian Business Advantage Facebook Group

I would like to invite you to be a part of the Christian Business Advantage Facebook Group. We have lots of fun things happening all the time in the group. Lastly, I want to leave you with a reminder that God doesn’t just want you to finish the year; He wants you to finish it faithfully. You are not alone; He is with you every single step.