What is in a 5-year strategy plan?

Having goals is always going to be an ideal way of achieving what you want in life. Goals set you on the course that you need to be going on, they give you direction and act as an incentive to achieve what you want and what you need. Without goals you can be like a boat without a rudder, drifting off in one direction without the means to bring you back on course.

Having a focus can help in all areas of your life, from finding the ideal job, home, partner or lifestyle. Knowing what you want and then setting a plan to get it is highly satisfying and productive.

Having a fixed goal in mind means that you always know what direction you are meant to be going in and having a 5-year plan means that you can visualise and set goals that will really change your life.

What is a five-year plan?

A five-year plan is a long-term plan for reaching set goals and targets. Usually, with a five-year plan, you cover many areas of your life such as career, personal, financial, health and travel goals.

The plan would normally be set out with your goals and plans of ways to achieve them.

Benefits of creating a five-year plan

There are many benefits to creating a five-year plan. As well as putting you in the driving seat of your life and giving you something to aim for a five-year plan will also;

• help you to focus on your future

• prevent you from overreaching yourself

• let you decide on what you want from a measured perspective without making rash decisions

• motivate you personally and professionally

• give you achievable targets

• identify areas that you would like to progress in professionally

• keep you focused

• help prevent stress or burnout.

How to create your five-year plan

Creating your five-year plan will take thought and careful planning; one thing you must ensure is that it is achievable.

There is no point in setting goals you know you have no hope of ever reaching. Make sure that your goals are realistic, attainable and suitable for you. Follow the points below to create your five-year plan.

1. Think about your why

Before you start your five-year plan think about your why. Why do you want to do the things that you are planning and setting yourself? What are they going to do for your future? Why are they important to you? Asking yourself Why? will mean that you are asking the correct questions moving forward.

2. Visualise where you see yourself in five year’s time

Visualise where you see yourself in five years’ time as a starting point for setting your plan.

Where do you see your career going? Where will you be living? Will you be in a relationship? Will you have a family?

Having a clear vision of your future will allow you to make and stick to the right plans. A clear vision means that you know what you want, how you will achieve it and how you will go about it.

3. Be honest about your life now and where you want to go

Being open and honest with yourself is vital when setting a five-year plan. If you aren’t honest and upfront about your life now then how will you know that the plan you are setting is going to be the right one?

There is no point in deciding that you want to live abroad for example if you love the life that you have where you are living. Be honest and realistic about your wants and needs and how they are going to fit into your life when making your plan.

4. Set realistic and achievable goals

Setting realistic and achievable goals is the basis for setting a good five-year plan.

If you hate running, there’s little point in planning to run a marathon is there? If on the other hand, you love walking, then planning to walk around part of a coastline would be realistic and achievable.

5. Research your goals

Well-researched goals will mean that you are far more likely to achieve them than just plucking a goal out of thin air and trying to achieve it. Think about time scale, cost, commitment, help and other factors that may come into play.

The more research you undertake, the more aware you will be of anything that could prevent you from reaching your goal and therefore the more prepared you will be.

6. Brainstorm your goals and use the SMART model

The SMART model is an excellent tool to use when setting goals and reaching them. The SMART model stands for;

S - Specific

M- Measurable

A- Attainable

R- Realistic

T- Time relatable

Using the SMART model will mean that you have planned well and have set goals that you can add to your plan that you will be able to reach, and within your time frame.

7. Establish which goals need to be achieved first

When setting goals for your five-year plan, there will need to be an order and method to them. Just throwing down a list of things that you want isn’t going to achieve anything, all you will have is a list of things that you want. They need to be ordered so you know what you are doing and when.

If for example, you want to move into a bigger house, will you have to in a better-paying job first to afford it? If so your first goal may be to concentrate on your career first before you can even think about moving house. Therefore, your first priority in your plan would be to get a well-paid job.

8. Separate your goals into work, family, social and health categories

When laying out your plan, the more order you have the easier it will be for you to manage.

Separate your goals into different categories, such as work, family, social life and health. This way, you will be clear on each goal you have and how it fits into your life.

You will be aware of how much time you have for each goal and have a clear idea of how the goals will work within each area of your life.

9. Divide your yearly goals into monthly and weekly steps

The more steps you can break a goal down into the easier it will be for you to reach it.

Breaking yearly goals down into monthly and weekly steps can prevent you from becoming overwhelmed and can also give you more focus and help you to see how much success you have achieved in your goal.

10. Identify the most important goal

What is the most important goal of your five-year plan? Identify what it is before you begin. If your goal is to be running your own business within five years for example, what is the most important part? Identifying this is crucial for success.

11. Incorporate fun into your goals

Fun is essential in every undertaking that you make. If you aren’t having fun, then the chances are you aren’t going to reach your goals.

Making sure you are enjoying what you do will spur you on to the end, even when times are getting tough.

If you dread what you are doing, then you will either give up or you will place too much stress on yourself and it could lead to burnout and failure.

12. Write a goal for each year

Setting a goal for each year is an excellent way of breaking down a large goal into five manageable chunks. It is also a great way of pushing you on, when you have reached one stage of the goal, it will show you that you are capable of achieving what you want and will give you the impetus to keep moving forward.

13. Make a plan of action

Your plan of action could be in simple bullet point format or it could be far more detailed. How you write it is unimportant, making a plan of action is what counts. It will keep you organised and aware of what you need to be doing and when.

If you make it in a simple list format, then you can cross off each point as you move along, therefore showing you how far you have come and how far you have left to go.

14. Be as clear as you possibly can be

The more clarity you have the easier your goal will appear. Clarity will allow you to see any pitfalls or problems along the way.

It will also help you to understand all of the finer details that your plan may have. The clearer you are the less margin for error and the more chance of success.

15. Give yourself room for change

You need to be flexible and accommodating when developing a five-year plan. There is no point in being too rigid or unwilling to change as you never know what potential issues could crop up in the future.

Any plans you make need to be fluid and organic. You need to be able to change and adapt as you move along through your plans so as not to cause stress or disappointment and to give yourself the greatest chance of success.

16. Keep revisiting your plan

Don’t just write a five-year plan and then leave it, keep revising it to see if you need to make any tweaks or changes along the way. Very few plans will look the same in the end as they did in the beginning. You need to revisit your plan constantly to stay on track.

17. Celebrate your wins

Every time you achieve a win, make sure that you celebrate it. Even if it is only something small, turn it into a celebration.

This will help to keep you moving forward, will give you a mental boost and will demonstrate that you are on the right track and can achieve what you set out to get.

Every achievement in life is worth celebrating never forget that.

18. Don’t be afraid to change something

The most successful people in life, are the people who can admit when something isn’t working and aren’t afraid to make changes to get back on track. If you stick doggedly to a plan that isn’t working you are wasting your time and effort. Never be afraid to change something if you feel that you need to….this is the way to success.

19. Keep yourself accountable

The more accountable you are, the more you will reach the goals that you set for yourself.

When you are accountable to someone else, you will have an even greater chance of success.

Accountability means that you are likely to show up more, put in more effort and dedicate more time to the goals that you have set.

20. Believe in yourself

You need to believe in yourself first and foremost. Even if other people aren’t on board at the start, you need to have absolute faith in yourself and your capabilities. The more you believe in yourself the greater you have of success. Self-belief will mean that even when things get tough, you will push through without throwing in the towel. The more you believe in yourself, the more others will follow.

21. Get Started!

Once you have written your plan you need to get started. There’s no time like the present to start making the changes in your life that you need to make in order to be living the life that you want.

Instead of dreaming of change, be the change! Dreams are never going to be realised if all you do is sit daydreaming about them and wishing that life was different.

Nothing will ever be accomplished unless you get out of your comfort zone and start making change happen.

You are the only one who can bring change into your life so get started now and in five years’ time you will be doing what you always wanted to be doing.

An example of a 5-Year plan

Final Thoughts

When compiling your list make sure that the goals that you set in your plan are the goals that you want and that you are not influenced by other people.

You should be the one in charge of making your plans.

If somebody else is directing your future, then there is every chance it is not what you want to be doing and so will fail or will bring a lot of discomfort to you.

Plan your future with you in mind. Of course, there are going to be other people in your life that you will have to accommodate as you go along and you will have to plan for their needs as well but for you to succeed in your life, it is important that you put your desires and needs first.

A detailed five-year plan will often reveal what you value most in your life; your career, relationships, health, wealth and travel.

Having a clear idea of what you want from your life and when you want to achieve it will give you the best chance of living the life that you want.

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