How to Create an Achievable 5-Year Plan? – Planning for the future is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. Sometimes it is easy to dream about what you want your life to look like in the next few years, but you may feel stuck when it comes to taking concrete steps toward your goals. To help you achieve your short- and long-term goals, consider writing a 5-year plan. A 5-year plan helps you map out your big dreams in an achievable way. The plan encourages you to include small steps that you can take to make your larger goals happen and keeps you focused on what you want your life to look like in the five years to come. Learn how to create an achievable 5-year plan to ensure that in five years, you will be living your ideal life.
What Is a 5-Year Plan?
A 5-year plan is a list of goals or objectives you want to accomplish over the next five years. Like any good plan, your 5-year plan is made up of overarching, long-term goals as well as short-term, smaller goals that move you closer to the big objectives. For example, if you are thinking about getting pregnant over 35 to start a family and struggle with infertility, you may want to include a visit to your OBGYN to discuss fertility and reliable, effective fertility supplements, like DHEA and CoQ10/ubiquinol, as part of your plan.
Why Create a 5-Year Plan?
Creating a 5-year plan helps you create the life you want. The process of writing a plan allows you to think through what you are truly passionate about and how you want your life to look in a few years. This helps you consciously shape your life and forces you to assess your values and ambitions and make a plan to get there. A 5-year plan helps you outline the steps you need to take to reach your goals, rather than dream about them while time passes by. When things get difficult, it also keeps you on track because you can easily review your plan and keep yourself motivated. Finally, creating a 5-year plan helps you maintain your trajectory toward your goals and make daily decisions that will get you to your final destination.
What to Include in Your 5-Year Plan
To create your 5-year plan, focus on the nine areas of wellness, including:
- Intellectual – Your mind and intellectual growth
- Physical – Your body and physical health
- Fertility – Do you want to have children and what do you want your family to look like
- Environmental – Your living space
- Financial – Your money situation and/or salary
- Occupational – Your career or professional development goals
- Social – Your relationships with friends, family, partners
- Emotional – Your emotions and feelings, also your mental health
- Spiritual – Your religious or spiritual beliefs
As you follow the steps to creating a 5-year plan, keep these eight areas in mind. The goal is to incorporate them into your plan, so you create balance in your future.
How to Write a 5-Year Plan
To write your 5-year plan, follow these seven steps below.
1. Visualize
Your first step in creating your 5-year plan is to visualize your future. During this step, grab a pen and paper (or computer) and write down all eight areas of wellness. Then, let yourself daydream about what each area would look like if you had a perfect life. It is important not to judge your dreams here. Even if they feel silly or out of reach, write them down.
2. Choose One or Two Areas of Focus
Next, choose one or two areas to focus on. Opt for the areas that feel the most important to you. For instance, you may have written that you want to have children, write a book, travel to Europe and start meditating. To make your plan achievable, you will need to decide which of these goals is most important to you.
3. Decide on a Few Goals
In step three, you will narrow down the goals within those dimensions. Choose one or two big, long-term goals which you can break down into smaller goals. If you choose to start a family and begin a meditation practice, you will break these down into smaller goals as you continue making your 5-year plan.
4. Research How to Meet Your Goals
After deciding on your goals, research how to achieve them. This helps you create smaller, actionable goals that get you to the big picture. If you want to start a family after 35, research what challenges you might face. Talk to your doctor about high-quality fertility supplements for women and how you can better your egg health over 35.
5. Create Yearly and Monthly Goals
Once you have chosen your big goals and researched how to achieve them, it is time to create yearly and monthly goals, or action plans, to get you to the endpoint. Write down the steps needed to achieve your goal and list them out by month and year.
6. Write an Action Plan for Each Goal
Using a goal-planning method like SMART goals or HARD goals, write an action plan for each small goal. For your goal of starting a family, you may set a monthly goal of starting a fertility supplement regimen. To achieve this, your action plan can include setting up an appointment to get a recommendation, buying the supplements, researching how they work and tracking changes you notice in your body.
7. Revisit Your Plan Frequently
If you hit a roadblock in your 5-year plan, revisit your goals and change them if needed. For instance, if you and your partner are trying to conceive but are still having trouble, look into fertility supplements for men so that your partner is in the best health for reproduction to better your chances of conceiving.
Create Your 5-Year Plan Today for a Better Tomorrow
Taking the time to complete a 5-year plan today sets you on the path for your ideal tomorrow. By thinking through exactly what you want to achieve and writing out long-term and short-term goals, you create a roadmap for your life over the next five years. This allows you to progress toward your goals and end up exactly where you want to be rather than end up wherever life takes you.