It’s amazing how fast time flies by. It feels as if you just blink, and five years have passed. The problem is, most of us tend to overestimate what we can do in a year, and conversely, underestimate what we can do for the long term, such as in five years.
The truth is most people don’t create plans effectively. It all starts with your vision, and then it boils down to setting SMART goals and developing an implementation schedule and plan designed to meet the goals that will bring your vision to life.
Write down in detail how you want your life to look in the following categories in five years:
- Health & Lifestyle – Describe everything that you’d like to be true in five years about your health and the lifestyle you live. Leave no detail out about your health and the life you see living. For example, you can state that you will be a healthy weight and be living in a sunny environment in five years.
- Personal & Relationships – What types of things do you want to work on within yourself to make yourself better? What about your relationships? Even if you’re not in a relationship now, don’t skip out on describing the types of relationships you want to have because it has a lot to do with your personal development.
- Money & Business – Get very specific about how you see your business and the money you earn. What will you be doing in your business in five years? How much money will you be making in five years? Be very specific about the information.
- Home Environment – How do you want your home to look in terms of its organization? Do you want to live someplace different or unique? Do you want your home to be organized in a specific way? Name everything so that you can go back and make a schedule.
- Fun & Service – What type of fun do you think you’ll be having in five years? Will you be taking more vacations in five years? Will you be a blackbelt in five years? Also, studies show that people are not truly happy unless they are performing some form of volunteer service to others. What do you want to be able to afford to have time and money to do for others in five years?
Don’t Think About the How Right Now
As you write your vision for how you see yourself in five years, don’t worry about how you’re going to do it right now. This is your vision, and you can adjust it for realism later. Right now, you just want to get it all written out the way you want it to be. The way that it can be if nothing else mattered or could possibly get in your way and as if money is not important at all.
Start Behaving as the Person Who Has Reached Their Vision
This is something that can be hard for some people to do. But if you’re future self exercises every day to be healthy, then your present self needs to do that too. Remove anything from your life, one thing at a time, that is contrary to or a roadblock to your vision coming true.
Turn Your Five-Year Vision into Smaller One Year Sub Goals
Now that you know where you want to be in five years, it’s time to design your map. Work through one thing at a time. Focusing on your business, you’ll want to determine how far you can realistically get in your plan during year one. Set out a daily schedule to ensure you reach your one-year goals.
Implement Action
The only way to succeed in anything in life is to take the first step or action. What is first, what is next, and what is last? These are questions that are essential to answer so that you can take the action needed to reach your goal. Don’t stop taking steps until you reach your destination. You may have to adjust the direction but never stop.
No vision will ever come true if you don’t put concrete steps in place that help you get closer to your goals. All the planning in the world will not pay off without the action. Implementation of the plans you make is key to success. If you want to lose weight, you must eat less. It’s just a fact. If you want to succeed in business, you must do business things regularly that lead to earning income.
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