Go Ahead, Make the 5 Year Plan
Photo by Emma Calary for Kit + Ace
For as long as I can remember, in any ice-breaker, interview, or personal development workshop, I've hated this question:
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I thought it sounded so self-important and boring. It also seemed to me quite presumptions - like, how the heck do I know? I'm not even sure what I'm having for dinner tonight!
And yet, as I've gotten older and (perhaps) wiser, I'm learning that those nine little words hold some power. It's telling that I don't like to think too much about the future. Sometimes I wonder if it means I've lost the ability to dream big.
For instance, as I child, when asked "what do you want to be when you grown up?", the first answer was mermaid (up until about age 5) and then famous signer. You can't get much bigger than that.
But I'm finally starting to recognize the merit in dreaming and planning for the future. First of all, if you know anything about the Law of Attraction, you know that we really are in the driver's seat of life. And when we set big, scary, and wonderful goals, and actually focus on them once in a while, something special happens. We start to draw in people, resources, experiences, and other "supplies" that take us closer to said dreams. We pull goals into our orbit simply by naming and organizing thought, intention, and action around said desire.
And if you're not inspired by what I've just mentioned maybe this will help We are just at the start of spring and the immense power and rebirth that comes with mother nature's new year. Right now we have this magic window of freshness to look at our lives with some perspective, some imagination and some boldness. Because if we don't dream big now, when will we?
I challenge you to answer this question today:
Where do you see yourself in five years?