An Ideal Me

The thoughts of the [steadily] diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone who is impatient and hasty hastens only to want.

— Proverbs 21:5 (AMPC)

A great and practical way to improve your life is to create a vision of the ideal you. Carry this vision around in your thoughts as you might carry a photo in your wallet. Begin to see yourself the way you want to be—the way God says you can be—instead of how you’ve always been.

With God’s help, intentionally say and do the things the “ideal you” would do, instead of what the old you would have done. If you’ve never been a very disciplined person, but you’d like to become one, start saying, “I am disciplined. I feel great, I take care of myself, and I stay on task.” Believe that God has given you discipline and self-control, and begin acting on it.

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Finally, make your goals concrete by writing them down. God told Habakkuk to write his vision down so that the people would be able to run with it (see Habakkuk 2:2), and we can follow his example.

Prayer Starter: Father, please give me a clear vision of the person I want to be (and who You want me to be). Thank You for giving me the strength I need to take the steps I need to take to become that person. In Jesus’s Name, amen.