Vision Planning/Boarding and Strategic Warfare
Strategy Is Learned and Not Just for the Gifted...
Most people think strategy is hard, and I'll say some think it's a skill for those who are more gifted than them. I will agree to an extent that some people are better at finding a rhythm than others. They may have more discipline or really understand how to apply themselves, but I'm here to say that if you have a passion that you can learn to strategize!
Your strategy for anything is simply expounding on your goals. It's your "How to your problem. It's not complicated to think about how you will get from one place to another, and if you have had to pull up directions for your parents in the past off of mapquest, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Personally I've had to creatively think all my life because of an epilepsy diagnosis. I couldn't reach my milestones how my peers could typically do it. So while most people look up to me as a Strategist, I'm actually someone who was forced to think creatively. I had to think of creative ways to reach each milestone and figure out a way to do it that would avoid triggering a seizure, or placing myself in danger of a possible one. If I didn't think critically and creatively about these things, sitting idle can become depressing for me, and even debilitate for me.
So while my friends were getting their licenses and driving their cars. I was taking the bus, and eventually I learned that I could pay half the fare because of my disability. All i had to do to apply was have proof of my disability $5 cash, and a signed application from my Neurologist. Rides are usually $2.50 per ride but I only pay $1. Most people hate the bus, but if I ever had a seizure on the bus (and I have), by law the bus driver is required to stop the bus in a medical emergency, and call 9-1-1.
Of course I started out as a creative kid but using my creativity to solve my problems is when I turned my creative ideas into critical thinking. In my world I've had to over apply myself to navigate the obstacles from having epilepsy. This is why I'm just grateful for reaching the results when I do because it more than likely took a long time for me to reach that point.
The Vision Board that Changed It all...
You ever have repeat obstacles pop up? It's like no matter what you do they just keep showing up!? You turn another direction and it's like it's following you. Maybe it's a disability that has you going in circles, right? My cycle was "I can't go find a job because I don't have a car, I don't have a car because I don't have a license, I don't have a license because of these seizures" and then back to the beginning again. It was a NIGHTMARE. I put an end to the nightmare when I chose to leave Conyers GA, and live on a bus line in Atlanta. I got a job, found a home, and primarily I was on my way.
Let me tell you about a time that I got frustrated enough though where I chose to make a vision board that I called "The Eliminating the Problems Board", because I was trying to rid of these pop up demons once and for all! It was a board divided into 4 parts, it wasn't big it was a poster size, small enough to fit in a back pack and just big enough to be on display. In each square of the board there was an area of focus 1. Finances 2. Health 3. Transportation 4. Childcare. Under each area of focus were options or things I had to do to get to my goal. For example, under Childcare I had Early Head Start, and then CAPS. I had to apply for both and see how things worked out. Early Headstart said straight out that they were at capacity until the following school year. However, I had to fight a little with CAPS since they tried to deny me although it's written in their policies that children and parents who have disabilities should Qualify for CAPS. So hear me when I say I had to FIGHT! I took that Bright From the Start Policy and I emailed the case manager who was trying so eagerly to blow me off. I was angry when I did it because no where in her interview
The idea of the different options under each category was to lessen the blow if I received a no. To fight for a yes if I was qualified and to NEVER give up! Seeing all those options gave me so much hope, and it wasn't just that I was blessed with these options someone gave me. I did my research. I was asking questions at the children's hospital, at my children's schools, at the homeless shelter where I lived and they had tons of resources.
If not putting your eggs into 1 basket is a thing, this is probably what I was doing. So if you need a job, new skills, or to reach a different goal start off by asking yourself what options you have. Keep working at every option and keep praying every time you try to pursue them.
This plan actually worked because within a year I had all of my problems eliminated, but the purpose of that particular board was to zero in on those same obstacles that kept popping up like the wack-a-mole game. It annoyed me good enough to where I timed that sucker and instead of hitting and missing I wacked it HARD in it's ugly head when it tried to rear itself back into my life once again as a problem.
Planning for Rain...
Do you know that when Project Managers have a project that they're taking on, they actually estimate possible days of rain into their plans as well as other possible risks based on the type of project it is? When you are Strategizing remember to consider all of this issues you've faced, and your needs, because your strategy can't be counter productive for you or you'll end up going backwards. I'm speaking from personal experience. As a person with epilepsy I have it in writing that I can't have a full time job. I'm not supposed to work in factories, I can't do swing shifts, and it not only ruins my mood and disrupts my mental health, but it also triggers a seizure. Your strategy can't jeopardize your health if you're trying to live your life! READ THAT AGAIN! If it messes with your health it's not worth it, because you have to live your life!
It took me so long to learn this lesson. In fact the note I have in writing was given to me at my request in 2019 when I decided enough was enough. I was in a stressful work environment and had a seizure there while I was still homeless and going through with my family. At my next Neurology Appointment, I let them know that I had an increase in seizures due to stress in my home life, and that I was seeing a therapist every week to help alongside taking my medicine for the epilepsy. The neurologist or the Nurse Practitioner told me she was proud of me, and that she wished more people would do exactly what I was doing. The entire time I was afraid if I did this I was accepting being so disabled and that I was useless. This didn't make sense because not only was I a workaholic, but I was enrolled in school part-time, and had a family to take care of. I wasn't underworking in any way, but I was overworked!
You're probably reading this thinking those same cycling thoughts that I suffered with. If (insert problem here) didn't exist, then I could do... If this is you then you're preaching to the choir! But let me tell you about Perseverance from James' perspective.
James 1:4 says "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
James spoke a lot of wisdom in that chapter, in fact I read over the entire chapter with a friend and it's one of the most profound words I've ever read. Mind you, James is Jesus' brother. To me James is saying to stay consistent, Don't Give Up! Keep at it like I said in my post "4 Keys to Perseverance". So sometimes your 2-3 year plan takes 5-7years to do. Did you accomplish it? Well the idea here is to complete the mission not time how long it took for it to be made a reality.
This is what it means to WIN THE WAR. Staying focused on the objectives and fulfilling the mission in your life is what it means to WIN THE WAR. That is the entire purpose of letting patience/perseverance finish it's perfect work. Getting rid of anything that might hinder your health from being at it's best is winning the war. Choosing what's right for you, and not what others think you are supposed to do, or have, or be is winning the war. People can disagree with your decisions all they want, and sometimes their advice doesn't even FIT your life; but the one thing people can't disagree with is results.
So when you do your Vision Plan and your Vison Board this year, I want you to equip yourself for war! Wage War on the hindrances in your life. Wage war on the things that are repeatedly popping up in your life. Let the Holy Spirit lead you, guide you, and advance you. I'm not asking you to make a vision board and plan as a part of a new years tradition. I'm asking you to do it because it's necessary for you to grow and evolve in life and in faith. Keeping track of progress as it happens increases faith and gratitude. Them you can elevate from a place of gratitude to PRAISE when the goal is met and even after it's over. Meanwhile, don't forget to meditate on those things that are worth meditating on, so you can remain in good spirit. (Philippians 4:8)
I'm here to testify that THIS WORKS in every aspect of life especially with prayer, and even just in life circumstances as a whole. A goal of yours could be to surround yourself with more uplifting people. You also have to watch out for decisions that might counteract your progress. It wouldn't be enough to go and fill yourself every day with the uplifting loving words of supportive friends and family just to go to an abusive situation later and have it all undone. The two can't exist together, and simply put one has to go! In order to live in peace you have to choose which one is best for you. I don't think peace is coming from anything toxic any time soon, so choose wisely. Once you make your choice stick with it, and don't let people try to make you change your mind. Focus on what's important! Accomplish the mission! Win the War!
Don't Miss The Mark...
Proverbs 24:17 "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief."
In this scripture, the writer is saying that the difference between the two men is that one has enough will to get back up and try to get right, while the other man stays in sin and doesn't try. He won't even make an effort to get up again he, just falls right into trouble and stays there by his own choice.
Do you know that by definition, sin means "missing the mark"? Now, I need you to think about what I'm telling you about in this entire post and I need you to bring it all to a head right here. Take all the strategic planning, engraft your needs and your desires. Ask God for guidance. The way you stop missing the mark is by making decisions that keep you away your best. So, go! Don't miss the mark anymore! You don't have to keep on failing miserably. Falls are going to happen, but it's not about how many times you fall, but about how you will rise up afterward. How will you rise up from the fall? What will you do different this time? Sin goes way past fornicating, and drinking and smoking. If ANYTHING takes away your focus from God, places you in compromising positions and you accept that as your reality "fall into mischief" as the Proverb says... it's a sin. Hey...I was missing the mark because I just would not accept that I had a disability that limited how much I could do, and it resulted in me having a seizure in front of my coworkers and a bunch of my students too! That's missing the mark! I repented when I still made proper use of my time by going to school, picking up a Part-Time Job that was less stressful, and I picked and chose what type of people I wanted around and who served my purpose to have peace in my life. I actually had peace for once, and it was the best experience of my life.
I want to leave you with these last few scriptures so you understand what I mean by not giving up, and having consistency. PRESSING towards the mark are important factors in how to get out of sin, and accomplish your goals. When I see that word "pressing" in scripture I imagine trying to push a Boulder uphill. Or going at something that is so heavy or hard to move. Ain't no way I'm RUNNING uphill with a huge boulder on my back. With that being said things have to go through a process!
I encourage you to get out of bad habits, addictions, and other issues by looking at an area of focus and strategizing and coming up with different ways you can overcome. Write it down on paper if you have to! If you want to stop smoking write down the options you have at your disposal to kick the habit, and if one option won't work then try another. Just Don't give up.
Galatians 6:9
"And let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
Fainting is the equivalent of throwing in the towel in this scripture. The enemies objective is to make you quit, allowing him to win by default. Me and my husband watch WWE Raw and Smackdown every Monday and Friday. If a wrestler gets knocked out and becomes unresponsive then the other wrestler wins via count out. You ever heard that expression "down for the count," That's what that is from! If you faint, if you quit, and if you Tap out, your enemy wins by default! Don't let your enemy win because you quit! Don't lose focus this time! Stay focused, and win the war!
Philippians 3:13-14
Bretheren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Paul wrote Galatians and Philippians, and if you know anything about Paul, he once went by the name Saul and he persecuted the Church of Christ until his one-on-one encounter with Christ himself on the road to Damascus. It was then Christ asked him this life changing question, after knocking him blind off his high horse (literally and figuratively) "Why are you persecuting me?" The story of his conversion and name change is not only mind blowing but inspiring and filled with hope, Paul actually went on to preach to the Gentiles, and I encourage you to read it in the book of Acts chapter 9. It shows me that you could be a cold blooded murderer, but if God wants you to live righteously and for Him, then He has enough power and influence to do it no matter how far gone you think you are.
Just like Paul, your story has value, and if you don't live your life by persevering through it and letting patience have it's perfect work, then your goals can't get accomplished. It will only be satisfied temporarily or you'll have to always restart. Have patience with yourself, and the process! It's rough sometimes, but we have to get away from the concept of microwave faith. Some things need to be baked in and set in forever, and the only way we can get to that place of it being engrafted into our lives is if we let God do the work, and we have patience and perseverance.
So this year I urge you to focus on your strategies in a way you never have before. Zero in on the problems and come up with ways to set yourself free from each one. Craft partyers for specific areas of focus, and focus on accomplishing goals within those areas too. Every year can be your year if you don't faint. Every year can be your year if you are patient with yourself and love yourself through your unique needs and processes. Every year could be your year if you put away the concept of microwave faith and prep yourself to go in for the long haul.
So with that being said remember to have Patience, to Persevere, and truly Prosper this year. God's Good and Perfect Will is his Best Option for your life, and he wants the process you undergo to have long term effects for righteousness sake.
In recent days I created a video for this post! Of course I'm well versed in writing than I am on video so it was a 2 day project where I got to experience making a video. I hope that you enjoy it in spite of how I feel about myself on camera! I edited the best parts so that everyone could get a good listen!
I hope that you ladies have enjoyed this blog! Thank you for reading and watching!
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