Sunday, August 28, 2022

Where will you be in 5 years?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Before you answer, take a look at where you were 5 years ago. Have you come a long way since then? Have you achieved your goals to be where you are now? If you answered yes, then congratulations to you! You are among the few who have done so!

If you answered no, then read on.

Most people fail to achieve their 5 year goals because they fail to plan. That's if they even have 5 year goals written down somewhere. A goal without a date attached to it is just a dream - a pipe dream if you will. The likelihood of achieving your dream without a solid plan is virtually nil. So what can we do differently over the course of the next 5 years in order to make a significant change in some area of our life (note that this could be financial, physical, etc.)?

1. Write it down. As I stated above, a goal that isn't written down is simply a dream. "One day I will ..." or "Someday we're going to ..." - those are dreams and wishes. Seldom do they come true. But if we write down our goal, then we can make a solid plan of how to achieve that goal. Then it becomes real. It's no longer just a dream.

2. Set a date. Life coaches will tell you that you need to set a date to your goals. They'll also tell you that you should have short, medium, and long-term goals. But for today's exercise, I want you to focus on a long-term 5 year goal (yes, that's long term for the focus of today's blog post!). So take a look back and number one and ask yourself if that is where you want to be in 5 years, if it's not, then revise that goal. Set a time limit for where you want to be in five years, Write down an exact date. That date could be your birthday, the first of the year, or 5 years from today's date - whatever works for you to remember and write down.

3. Make a plan. Failure to plan is the number one cause of people missing their goals. You can have a goal and set the date, but if you have no plan on how to achieve that goal, then you'll just flounder aimlessly trying to find a needle in a haystack. You could still get lucky, but probably not likely. So how do you make this plan? Simple. Reverse engineer the goal. What do I mean by that?

I mean take it apart and review how it happens, piece by piece. Success leaves clues. Examine those who have achieved what you want to achieve in the past. See how they did it. What did they do? How can you break down your goal into bite-sized pieces? For example, if you want to make $1 million in sales, you could sell four $250,000 items, or you could sell 100,000 $10 items. Which one would be easier or take more steps to achieve? Then break it down again from there. How do you get the $250K sale, or the $10 sale? Once you've detailed that plan, then rinse and repeat.

Goal setting is essential to turning your dreams into reality. If you want to know where you will be in 5 years, don't look back at the last 5 years anymore. Look forward, make a goal, set a date, and plan ahead.

To YOUR Success,

Mike

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