This post is all about how to plan your life and create a 5-year plan!

Let me ask you a question: Have you ever planned anything in these past five years? 

But I don´t mean vacations, holidays, grocery shopping, or parties… I mean have you, in the past five years, ever sit down and said, okay I want to achieve this goal and I am going to do it by doing this and that, for any goal, no matter how big or small?

Now let me ask you another question: are you happy with the way these past 5 years have unfolded, are you happy with the point at where your life is? Do you feel like you have made any real progress towards your life goals, happiness, abundance, etc. in these past 5 years?

Sadly for most of us, the answer is no, because the reality is that we on average spend more time planning our holidays that our life.

But I am going to let you on a little secret about life and success: without a plan, your life is unlikely to change because without putting the effort to actually plan and set goals, intentions and putting the work and the effort to accomplish them, we are leaving our life to fate and luck.

And how has that been working out for you, are you happy with the results? Did incredibly and miraculous things happen as a consequence of just dreaming but doing nothing about it, or did something change in your life by complaining?

So how can we actually change this? How do we start making real progress in our lives and towards our dreams?

Here is the first step you need to take …

Let´s begin!

How to plan your life- Beginners guide on how to create a 5-year life plan

Actually, the first step to start moving toward your dreams and life goals is to create a plan.

Now I know that not all of us are planers or like to plan, some people are the kind who like to jump straight to it, and you even have to admit that most of us donñt even plan a day ahead.

But planning is highly important in any process you are carrying out because as someone very great and wise said “failing to plan is planning to fail (Benjamin Franklin)”.

There are different kinds of plans: one-day plans, one-week plans, one-month plans, one-year plans… But today we are going to focus on five-year plans so that you can learn how to create and write a specific, achievable, realistic, and detailed long-term plan to achieve the life of your life.

So without further due, let’s get into it.

How to plan your life. Life plan categories

Life plans are kind of like a roadmap for your life where you detail and prioritize what is important to you, your biggest dreams, goals, and how to make decisions based on these things to move towards the life you want.

Life plans should provide a clear path for your life, but they should also be flexible because as we know life can take many turns as well as our priorities and values, that´s why it is important to be clear and determinant about our goals, but flexible about our methods. 

But what are 5-year plan useful for? Why think so long ahead?

Well the benefits 

And in order to write this as specifically as possible, it is important to know the 5 life categories that you need to have in mind when writing these plans. And these categories are:

Category 1- Finances

For our first category, I want you to think of where you want to be financially in 5 years’ time.

The first thing that comes to your mind may be:” I want to be rich or I want to earn a lot of money”, but let´s dive a little bit deeper.

I want you to consider the amount of money you would like to earn monthly. Now, where does this money come from? Are you an employee, (if so what position do you hold?), or do you have your own business? How many income streams do you have? Do you have in mind any new ones you want to create?

What about investments, do you have in mind investing in something, if yes, what kind of things do you want to invest in? What about your debt or your saving, do you have any of the kinds?

By answering these questions you are creating a list of goals you want to achieve during the next five years, so once you have your answer, make sure to highlight those goals!

Category 2- Health

It´s time to think about your health, both mentally and physically.

Think about your current health challenges: for example that could be high amounts of everyday stress and/ or anxiety, bad physical form, or on the contrary maybe you are already working on it, but want to take it to the next level?

What about your diet, are you happy with the way you are eating and nourishing your body?

Think of all the areas you want to improve regarding your health and the different lifestyle changes you could make to change them!

Category 3- Career

What about your career? Where do you see yourself in five years?

Where do you want to be working? Would you like to work for a company, or maybe create a business of your own?

Do you like the career you are doing/ studying for? Would you like to do something else?

What is the activity that you would do if money and time weren´t an impediment?

What job would you do even if you weren’t paid? What is something nowadays that you do and love, and how can you monetize it?

Career 4- Relationships

Think about the relationships you have in your life. Are you satisfied with them? Would you like to strengthen or dissolve any of them?

Are you looking to create new relationships romantically or platonically?

Think about your relationship with your friends, family, and last but not least your relationship with yourself- Are you happy with the way you treat yourself? Do you think there are any areas you could improve in?

Category 5- Personal development

And lastly, personal development, which basically includes any area, skills, habits, etc that will help you become your best self and reach your full potential.

To do this I want to write the different ways/ goals you may have regarding your personal development in the next 5 areas:

• Mentally: Working in this area of personal development includes improving our mental capacities and growth, focusing on areas like improving our skills, and talents, seeding empowering beliefs while destroying limiting ones, facing our fears and traumas, learning new abilities that will help us become the highest version of ourselves as well as build the dream of out lives…
• Physically– The mind and the body work together in syntony, which is why it´s so important to take care of and develop our physical being as much as our mental one.
• Spirituality– Developing our spiritual self is all about creating a deeper connection between mind, body, spirit, and the world that surrounds you.
• Socially– We are social creatures, who depend upon human interaction. And it is because of how big our social environment and how effectively we communicate affect our lives that we should take care of our spiritual growth.
•  Emotionally– Our emotions, along with our minds, have the power to influence us in incredibly powerful ways. They are a huge factor in our life, which is why it is so important to learn how to understand, manage and use your emotions in a positive way.

Want to learn more about the 5 essential areas you must work on to become your best self and how to work on them?

Remember: never be afraid of growing slowly, because it is far worse to remain still and that if you want to achieve something you´ve never had, you´ll have to become someone you´ve never been!

How to plan your life. 5 essential steps to create an action plan for your dreams

In the previous section you didn´t simply learn about the different categories you must include in your life plan, you even started creating it, as well as the goals, objectives, and intentions you would like to accomplish.

So now that we have these established, what comes next? Creating the actual plan to achieve all those goals that will bring you a step closer to living the of your dreams!

And how can I create that plan? By following these 5 simple steps:

Step 1: Define your goal

We already outlined our goals in the previous sections, so know in this part I want you to take the time to truly define that goal.

Don´t be vague when describing your goals and dreams. Be specific, and concrete. Write so much detail that you can almost create a mental image in the brain of your dreams.

For example, if one of your dreams is to be finally independent don’t stop there. Ask yourself what being financially free means for you, calculate the amount of money you need to live comfortably without having to work and research the different ways you could do this…

Make sure to use the T.A.R.G.E.T Method to help you establish realistic, achievable, tangible goals!

Now I know the list of goals may be a little long and tedious to complete but stick with me because this part is the most beneficial and important one of the whole process.

Why? Because once you have it thought and written down, you will already have done half of the work, which is figuring out how to get where you want to be.

So let’s continue!

Step 2: Make a list including all the steps you need to accomplish to achieve your dreams

Now that your goals are clear, what do you need to do in order to achieve it? What steps do you need to accomplish?

If we take the example mentioned before, the steps to achieve our financial independence would look something like this:

• Research about the different ways to achieve financial freedom
• Read stories about people who achieved this goal and how they did it
• Choose a method to become financially free from the ones I have been studying
• Learn more about this method chosen (read books, watch videos, follow the experts in that field)
• Start taking action to make money following the techniques and methods I have learned about

Step 3: Prioritize tasks and establish deadlines

Once you have established your goal and the steps you need to accomplish them, it´s time to prioritize the tasks and steps you have written and assign them a deadline, because a goal without a deadline is just a dream.

This step will help you avoid the mistake of procrastinating everything, and will help to push yourself to get out of your comfort zone, and actually motivate you to complete those steps and tasks.

Don´t forget to set deadlines that are realistic and achievable, but at the same time do not exceed the time limit to complete this step. The trick is to find a balance between a deadline that is achievable but still provides a challenge.

Step 4: Set milestones

Milestones are mini goals that led up to the main goal. You can use them to keep yourself motivated throughout your journey and have something to look forward to.

To set milestones start at the top, the main goal, and work your way down to the beginning, where you are now. Remember to celebrate those milestones and to reward yourself every time you achieve one.

Step 5: Measure, evaluate and update

Once you have defined and worked on the previous steps and have started to follow your action plan, don´t forget about measuring your progress and evaluating your performance and achievements.

To give you an example these measures could be things like the amount of time you are investing in this goal- Or evaluating if there are any steps or tasks that you had not foreseen and need to include in your checklist. Are you satisfied with the progress you are making?

In addition to these steps here are some things you must include in your action plan:

• A clear and well-defined description of your goal. I know this is technically the first step, but I write it here again to mark the importance of having a clear idea about what you desire.
• The tasks you need to carry out to accomplish the goal
• Define milestones and deadlines for the tasks and steps
• The different resources and skills you´ll need to reach your goal
• Set various measures in which you can evaluate your progress. This simply consists of thinking about all the ways you could measure your progress (which you will use in step 5), including the milestones you have established yourself or any other tool you can think of that can help you track this.

Planning your life whether it´s for 5 years or 5 months and how to achieve your dreams is extremely important not only because it helps us succeed in anything that we set our minds to do, but also because it brings into our lives a sense of clarity and direction as well as a feeling of proudness and achievement as we start accomplishing those goals.

So now that you know the 5 essential areas you must include in your life plan and how to create an action plan for your dreams and goals, my only question left to you is: when are you starting to build the life of your dreams, the life you deserve?!

Remember that you are worthy of even your deepest desires!

Thank you so much for investing your time in this article. I hope the tools, tips, and steps here will help you plan your life, or at least a part of it, in the most meaningful, intentional, and successful way possible! You´ve got this!