“It all comes down to who you want to be in 5 years…“ is something I say very often when talking to people about how they haven’t taken action on their goals.
When you can precisely create a vision for yourself, it helps you create a framework for decisions that you need to make today.
When you can ask yourself, “does this line up with who I want to be in 5 years?”, it adds a tremendous amount of self control and authority in your life.
You can use that framework for who you hang out with, what you work on, what you eat, who you date/marry, what you do with your kids, etc.
Because here’s the truth: If you don’t work on doing healthy things in your life right now, you won’t work on it in the future. You’ll literally never become the person you want to be, because it’s something that you are right now. It’s a decision, not a destination.
5 years is usually the time frame I use because it’s short enough to actually register in our minds, but it’s long enough to make some massive changes in a person’s life.
You can get an entire college degree in 5 years. Or grow a successful business. Or date someone and get married. Or change careers. Or do whatever you’ve been dying to do your whole life but have been waiting for it to just show up in your lap.
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t just show up. You have to go get it. It takes action, time, and focus.
So, who do I want to be?
The funny thing is, I don’t think about it often myself. At least not in a specific sense.
I do think about arbitrary mid-term goals like being debt free and owing a home. Simple stuff.
But, who do I actually want to be in 5 years? What skills will I have? What kind of person will I become? What are some characteristics about me?
Lets define who I will be in 5 years simply adjusted for time.
- I’ll be 32.
- Married for 8 years.
- My son will be 7, and my daughter will be 5.
- I’ll probably have at least one more child in that time.
Great! So I’ll still be a young dad with a growing family. That’s pretty similar to today.
Speaking of family, what are my goals for them? How will I interact with them? I’d like to…
- Spend at least an hour with my wife every day. Just the two of us.
- Do a night out with her at least twice a month.
- Take a longer vacation at least twice a year.
- Spend at least an two hours interacting with my children every day.
- Have a flexible schedule that allows me to be home with them in the late mornings and evenings.
Awesome. Here’s something to notice - all of my ‘goals’ for myself are some sort of action. It’s not, “I want something like this”, it’s “I will do this, this often with these people”.
What about work, and skills that I will hone?
- Writing. Lots of writing. I think this will always be core to who I am. It’s my way of providing value to others.
- I’ll probably have written some-sort of book or course on growing an indie SAAS business.
- An E-Commerce business. This is something that I hope to create in the next year or so. E-Commerce is a very stable business model. SAAS is great, but physical products rule.
- Reading. I want to be known as a proficient and well-read person.
- Content Marketing. Though I’ve had success with this in the past, I would like to have more. I want to create content that drives 100k+ sessions per month.
There’s more, I’m sure. But this list covers most of my core plans and ethos.
None of this will come to pass unless I am paying attention and putting in the work today. It is paramount that I look 5 years into the future and begin to operate as if that is my present state.