The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, (Nehemiah 1:1 NKJV)
And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. (Nehemiah 2:1 NKJV)
It Takes Time to Plan Well
In the Jewish month Chislev Nehemiah heard about the conditions in Jerusalem. He fasted, prayed, and planned. Four months later in the month Nisan he stood before the king, shared his plan in detail, and received what he needed to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. Let that sink in. He took four months to plan a strategy that allowed him to lead the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in a miraculous 52 days with ancient construction methods and mostly unskilled labor.
The level of success we experience in our projects, events, and initiatives is directly proportional to the amount of time we spend in quality planning. Last minute, knee jerk, rapid fire planning causes us to lean more on talent than excellence. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to rely on talent alone because deep down inside I know I’m just not that talented. Quality, strategic planning gives us the ability to position people and resources to make up for our flaws as well as take advantage of opportunities.
What are some other advantages of time and planning?