Planning for Success

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

Today I'm posting Proverbs 21:5, a verse that talks about several factors which are keys to building wealth. From the NIV:

The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

Another phrasing from the Contemporary English Version:

If you plan and work hard, you will have plenty; if you get in a hurry, you will end up poor.

And from the message:

Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind.

From these I see the following as principles to help build wealth:

1. Develop a plan. (a good plan, of course)

2. Work hard at it.

3. Avoid get-rich-quick ideas/schemes.

Seems like a good plan to me...how about you?

Comments

[Matt]

Like in Genesis when Pharaoh could not interpret his dream, Joseph interpreted the dream to mean that the 7 years of abundance will follow with 7 years of famine. They planned to hold 1/5 for the abundance for the 7 years of famine.

A lot of people today are feeling the famine (economic pain) and failed to plan when they had abundance (economic growth).

One thing I could add is evaluate your plan to make sure it is on the right path (a Godly path) and ask for guidance from others.

[Old Limey]

While we haven't had 7 years of famine we did experience 8 years of abundance from 1993 to 2001. This period had high employment, a rising stockmarket, and the phrase that was coined to describe it was "The Goldilocks Economy", not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

Since then many things have got worse as a result of some bad decisions by our government which unfortunately the average individual had little say over other than casting his or her vote at every opportunity.

What you can do however, as this topic states, is to plan and work hard. The plan starts with these basics.
1) Strike the right balance between work and play and be sure to obtain the best education you possibly can. The sooner you can pick a future career, the better.

2) Marriage is the cornerstone of success and in most cases is the most important decision you will ever make, so be sure to get it right the first time. It's never something to rush into, you need a spouse that shares your beliefs and values, particularly where finances and lifestyle are concerned. You have to both be on the same page where every major issue is concerned or eventually it has a 50% chance of falling apart with consequences that are bad financially and particularly bad for children.

[BD]

All I can think of is "The best laid plans of mice and men....."
You know where that leads to.
I spent my entire life planning, and diligently working hard, and being frugal to make my plans work. But, God may have OTHER ideas for a person.
What's that saying? "Man plans, and God laughs?" If God wants a person to be poor, then that person won't have the power to fight against what God wills. Jonah ran from God, and ended up in the belly of a whale. All of Jonah's planning didn't help at all...he still ended up in Nineveh in the end.