You Are Planning Your 5 Year Goals Wrong: Reach Big Goals With Constant Interruptions

I am going to help you plan for your 5-year goals in this post in just a few thumb swipes, but first, I want to challenge your thinking.

Planning for your week, goals, or life is often done with the idea that there will not be changes, roadblocks, interruptions, or even complete path changes.

• What would it look like if you planned in a way that assumed those challenges were going to happen?
• What if we welcomed the challenges that slowed us down because we already knew they were coming?
• And what if we were so driven for our goals that the 5 year timeline was really irrelevant and we were going to go after those goals no matter how long it takes us?

Keep these questions in mind as you move along.

Go After Your Goals That You Want So Badly It Doesn’t Matter How Long It Takes

Your 5-year goal plan should really just be a milestone guideline. Not a beating stick you use against yourself when you don’t hit the goals exactly on target.

I am going to challenge you to set goals that are your dream lifestyle type goals. But I want you to choose the ones that you would go after, no matter the timeline.

There are seasons of life when you need to have dream outcomes that you just take one small action towards every single day. Without the heavy weight of a deadline. (This was the case when I was learning to live life as a mom; I needed the goals to work towards to give me something to be excited about. But I couldn’t have this big, heavy goal that was staring me down like judge and jury.)

I learned this from Myrin Golden. He doesn’t set goals, he has objectives, and he is going to work towards those goals, whether it takes 5 years or 10 it doesn’t really matter.

Having that kind of resalve is so important to making it through the hard seasons.

Don’t worry about the how, YET….

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 reality later. Right now, you just want to get it all written out the way you want it to be.

The way you see it if nothing else mattered or could get in your way.

Because the truth is none of us know exactly how we are going to reach our goals when we are a few years away from them becoming reality. There are things that we have no idea that could come to life and help us reach our goals faster.

A lot of people won’t like this one, but AI and ChatGPT changed the game for people who are short on time, like us stay-at-home mommas. When a tool shows up, we can optimize for the best. So know what you are going after, then pay attention to what will help you get there.

Make The Vision Tactical

Vision boards are great, but what do your 5-year goals look like tactically? What are the numbers? What are the physical aspects of the things and “features” for lack of a better word, you want to have in your life? When you have those things laid out, it is a lot easier to find the solution to that brings those goals to life.

You can’t build a tactical world out of imaginary images and a someday wish. You have to plan and work for the things you want.

Life doesn’t care what your circumstances are. You have to find solutions to reach the level you want. You have to have something to work towards. Even if things change, choose something, and as better options come, you can fine-tune the plan.

Find The Numbers

If it’s a home, lifestyle, assets, toys, business, or even retirement goals, how much does that actually cost? Sometimes we think it will cost more than it does. When we attach a number to it, your brain will start finding solutions to the “problem” and help you reach those goals faster than you think.

Start Fine-Tuning Your Environment

You will make much bigger progress if you start engineering your environment to support what you are building. What does your home look like, your operating systems, your tools for planning, your clothes, your eating habits?

What do your weeks or evenings feel like?

I know this sounds silly but what kind of emotional environment do you want your life to be? If it is packed to the brim often that comes with stress.

Having a business or sidehustle is great but that also comes with added stress that maybe a part-time job is better suited for you.

Start With What You Can Remove

When you are making changes in your life to support those 5-year goals, start with what you can remove before you add more to your plate. You will find that you will become a completely different person if you remove what slows you down or stops you from becoming the person you want to be in those 5 years.

The change and motivation will help push you forward when you start changing habits if you are not dragging those things behind you.

Start Behaving as the Person Who Has Reached Their Vision

This is something that can be hard for some people to do, and it’s more about behavior and mindset. NOT “spend money you don’t have” kind of thing.

Here are some examples:

• But if your future self exercises every day to be healthy, then your present self needs to do that too.
• A person who is running a business that funds their goals has doubts, but they don’t sit in doubt and let it paralyze them. They take action even in the face of fear.
• Maybe you want your property to look well manicured. Then you need to start with what you’ve got and make what you have look the best it possibly can. It doesn’t mean spending what you can’t afford. It means taking care of it as if it were that beautiful property you wish you had.

You wouldn’t treat a new Chevy truck badly, right? So start being more careful with the truck you do have. Clean it, don’t take it on the salty roads unless you absolutely need to.

Remove anything from your life, one thing at a time, that is a roadblock to your vision coming true. Start becoming who you need to be to reach that dream life you want to live in 5 years.

Turn Your Five-Year Vision into Small One Year 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.

Where Are You Now Assessment

In my free guide, the focus framework: goals to action in 30 minutes. There is a sheet that takes your dream actions and looks at where you are now and where you want to go. Then guides you in making the smallest tweaks first to make progress with what you already have.

So look at where you are now and what do you have in your daily life that you could use to push you forward towards those goals? You may not see that exact thing in your future, but maybe you see that asset fund the dream life you already have.

Tasks To Get You Moving

First let me be clear. You will never be able to say with 100% certently “this plan will get me to my 5 year goals”. All of it is a guess and you just have to do your best.

Hold to the end goal but be willing to change the method you use to get there.

Brainstorm the things that you think would be the actions, projects, or tasks needed to get you closer to that end goal.

Then put those projects or actions in order of easiest to complete, but in order of impact. Think of it like debpt you will make the most momentum if you knock out the little things and then focus all your energy on the big projects. BUT only work on one to two bigger projects at a time. If you are a woman managing all the home things and trying to build. Don’t stress yourself out with 10 projects to make progress on at once.

1 Simple Action EVERY Day

This might seem crazy and even impossible. But I promise you if you give your goals time in your calendar and make them a priority. EVEN IF its just 15 minutes a day. You will see progress. Is it as much progress if you could give them 2-5 hrs a day? NO of course not. But I would rather try to get closer in 15 minutes a day. Than throw my hands up and never try.

I know far too many people who talk about starting their business or side hustle idea, and that is as far as it gets. A good idea is just a wish.

Building trust and confidence in yourself takes time. You will have days of doubt, fear, and questioning… congratulations you are making progress and not settling for mediocrity. Thats why so many people don’t reach those bigger hard goals. ITS HARD. So lock those heals into the hard gravel road becuase its not going to be easy.

The only way to succeed in anything in life is to take the first step or action.

Don’t stop taking steps until you reach your destination. Yes, you may have to adjust the methods, 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.