Toss Out Your 5-Year Plan (Do This Instead)
Today on the Courage & Clarity Podcast we are talking about tossing out the good old five-year plan. We are going to replace the question of “What do I want the next five years to look like?” with a different question, and some different strategies that I think can be a bit more useful — especially during a time where you don’t really know what the future holds.
Here's a sneak peek:
Stop asking what you'd like your life to look like in 5 years [7:31]
Work in 1 month chunks instead of 1 year [12:18]
Know the difference between your mission and your goals [23:05]
Will 1 year/5 year goals come back after Covid? [28:11]
Stop asking what your life will look like in 5 years
Instead of thinking about the distant future, I have a different question for you to try out.
How do you want to feel today? How do you want to experience life in the here and now?
Asking how you’d like your life to look like in 5 years is delaying all of your gratification, it’s the retirement mindset. You’re putting your happiness in the future. When you ask how you can experience happiness right now, it obviously informs your five-year plan, but it also allows you to make an impact on your life right now.
Work in 1 month chunks instead of 1 year
You might know that I host a very popular training called “Your Year on the Wall.” (Want to check it out and get notified when it opens again? Click here!) So how does that change during the current pandemic?
Instead of thinking ahead to the year, take it one month at a time. Currently, I don’t know when my kids are going to be back in school, and I don’t know what else is going to be happening. But even if I don’t know what’s happening several months into the future, I’ve been finding that it’s not all that relevant.
Once you figure out your goal income, and break that goal down into how much you want to be making every month, you can track your revenue-generating activities month-to-month.
"Instead of, "What do I want my life to look like in 5 years?" Ask, "How do I want to feel TODAY? How do I want to experience life in the NOW?"
The Difference between your mission and your goals
Your mission is why you do what you do, and why it matters. Stay grounded in your mission all the time.
Your goals will come and go. Goals are a means to an end, and are intended to help you fulfill your mission.
Goals shouldn’t stand on their own — they are grounded in mission.
So if your goal is to make 100K, it needs to be backed up by your overarching mission, otherwise it won’t mean much and won’t motivate you to work towards it.
Will 1 year/5 year goals come back after Covid?
My answer to that is — maybe. Right now, it’s not appealing to me at all.
Remember that goal-setting strategies are techniques and support mechanisms. They are intended to help you. So if 1 year or 5 year plans are still not appealing once the “normal” returns, it’s time to try something else.
So remember to take it one month at a time, and be really really kind to yourself in the meantime. Life is hard enough as it is, and certainly the past couple of months has been a whole different ball game.
The last thing you need to do is beat yourself up for not having a five-year plan.
Links & Resources
Crickets to Customers Workshop — sign up here!
Your Year on the Wall Tune-up & Coaching — get details here!
Try LinkedIn Ads and get $100 in ad credit — click here!