It is true that the older I get, the faster time seems to fly. some weeks, I get up on Monday morning and it seems that by the time I go to bed it is Friday already and I wonder what I’ve managed to get done!
It sometimes feels as if you blink and five years have passed. Most of us tend to overestimate what we can do in a year, and oddly enough, 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.
It does take effort, but without a plan, you will still expend effort but not get nearly as much from it in the end.
How Will Your Life Look In 5 Years?
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. Fill in all the details 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 warm and sunny environment in five years.
Personal & Relationships![friends]()
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 this. Describe the types of relationships you want to have because it has a lot to do with your personal development.
Money & Business
It may be difficult but make sure you are 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. Don’t worry if your mind tell you that it can’t be done. Write it down anyway.
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? List 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.
If you start thinking about how you will do these things, your efforts will stall.
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
I find this difficult to do and you may as well. You don’t want to behave in ways that will hurt your chances of success but doing this correctly can be wonderful.
For example, if you’re future self exercises every day to be healthy, then your present self needs to do that too.
If you do not have much money, don’t “behave as if you do” and go out and run up debt buying things. Instead, go window shopping with the attitude of ‘this will look so good in our new home’, feel it, then just move on for now.
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![daily planner]()
You are not done yet!
Now that you know where you want to be in five years, it’s time to design your road 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, regardless of how scary that might be.
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 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.
