How to Create a 5-Year Plan for Your Life

There is always a lot of hype at the end of the year about setting goals for the new year. Many people do this, but truth be told, it can get tiring to come up with new goals each year. I’ve found annual goal setting to be much easier when you have a longer plan for your life.

Most people don’t plan that far. Many don’t even plan the next day, let alone the next month or year! Without a plan, your life will not change significantly, as you put yourself at the mercy of luck. However, you can accomplish much over the next five years if you create a reasonable plan and commit to it.

Areas to Consider When Creating a 5-Year Plan for Your Life

To create a well-rounded plan for your life, consider these essential areas.

Finances

Here are some questions to consider when planning for your financial future:

Where do you want to be financially in 5 years? Consider your income, net worth, debt, savings, and investments.
Do you want to create new income streams or start a business?
What are your future spending plans?
Do you see yourself purchasing a house, a farm, or an investment property?
What about planning future expenses like education for your children?

Health

This is an area that people tend to make resolutions about and then abandon the resolutions very fast. Think about the following:

How is your mental, emotional and physical health?
Do you have any current health challenges and what are you doing about them?
How much do you want to weigh?
What type of diet do you want to follow, if at all?
How fit do you want to be?

Career and/or Business

Your career and source of income (job or business) directly impact your finances. So you need to carefully consider what to focus on over the next 5 years.

What is your dream career, job or business?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What steps must you take to reach your dream career, job or business?
What would you need to learn or do to get there?
Do you need to go back to school?
Are these social and professional networks you need to become a regular in?

Relationships

It’s easy to assume your relationships will flourish simply because you are there. But it takes time and effort to nurture and grow any relationships. What are your plans in this area?

Are there any relationships you’d like to nurture or let go of?
How do you want the relationship with your significant other to be?
Do you want to get married, start a family or have more children?
How do you want the relationships with extended family to be?
What kinds of friends do you want to have?

Personal Development

Reading self-help books is not enough for your overall personal growth. You also need to grow your skills, have hobbies, and create a sense of well-being.

What new skills or knowledge do you want to acquire or grow to make the most of the next 5 years?
Would you like to learn a new language, play a musical instrument, or develop a new hobby?
What would you like to learn or become?
How do you want to grow spiritually?
What do you need to do to adopt a more empowered mindset (e.g. sign up for a class, work with a Coach, go on a retreat, etc)?
How can personal growth contribute to your overall success?
Do you need to budget for your personal development? Add these costs to your financial plans.

Adventure

What exciting experiences would you like to have in the next 5 years?

Climb a mountain?
Go skydiving?
See a volcano?
Explore a new country?
What adventures would you like to experience locally, regionally, and internationally?
What hobbies would you like to indulge in or expand within this time?

Identify the adventures and hobbies that would make your life more fulfilling.

Turn Your Plan into Action

Knowing where you want to go isn’t enough. You must also create a plan for getting there. Once you’ve outlined what you want in each of these areas, the next step is to turn your desires into an actionable plan.

1. Write Down Your Plan

Now that you know what you want, it’s time to create a structured plan. Start with your long-term (5-year) vision and work backwards to set milestones. Make sure your plan includes actions you can take immediately to get started.

Start small if you’ve never created a 5-year plan before. Take 15 minutes to write down one major thing you’d like to achieve in the next five years in each area of your life. Then break it down until you have goals for years 4, 3, 2, and 1, working backwards from the future.

Start at the end and keep working back to the present day. Make the beginning simple enough that you could start doing something today.

A basic structure like this can make creating a 5-year plan for your life feel more doable:

Year 1: Foundation (e.g., Learn a skill, start saving)
Year 2: Growth (e.g., Advance career, invest, strengthen relationships)
Year 3: Expansion (e.g., Launch a business, buy a home)
Year 4: Mastery (e.g., Become an expert, increase income)
Year 5: Achievement (e.g., Reach financial goals, complete major milestones)

2. Create a Plan for Year 1

Long-term goals can feel overwhelming and unachievable. Avoid just having long-term goals that take years to complete. Have shorter-term goals or milestones that lead up to your bigger goals.

It’s also hard to focus on goals that require more than 12 weeks to reach. So break down your goals for the first year into smaller, manageable chunks.

Remember:

Your achievements in Year 1 build into the goals for Year 2.
Year 2 achievements set the pace for starting Year 3 strong. The same goes for Years 3 and 4.
In this way, you build traction each year until you achieve the goals you had set in the 5-year plan for your life.

When planning for Year 1, break down the goal for this year into short-term or quarterly (12-week) goals.

Next, divide the quarterly goals into monthly sub-goals. Then, divide these sub-goals further into weekly tasks. Your daily tasks will be drawn from these weekly tasks.

This step-by-step process will break down a large goal into smaller, manageable tasks, helping you maintain momentum and stay motivated.

3. Develop Habits

Achieving big goals is much easier when you develop the right habits. The challenge is figuring out these habits and then implementing them.

Identify the habits that align with your objectives and implement them into your daily routine.

Research proven strategies for habit formation to help ensure consistency.
Small, consistent actions compound over time and lead to significant results.

There is a lot of material available on how to create and sustain empowering habits. Educate yourself. It’s an incredibly valuable skill to have.

Two great resources are Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change, and James Clear’s Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.

Start with Atomic Habits if you’re new to working on your habits, then work through The Power of Habit.

What Gets Measured Gets Achieved

Setting a five-year plan is just the first step. One of the most important aspects of any long-term plan is regularly tracking your progress. Regular reviews are essential if you want to stay on track.

It’s easy to drift away from your goals and lose momentum without consistent check-ins. You can also veer off track and forget the original goal you were working on.

Additionally, tracking your progress provides accountability. It’s also a powerful motivator, especially when you’re not feeling like working on your goals. Seeing how far you’ve come can help increase your confidence and commitment to keep going.

On the flip side, if you notice you’re off track, this awareness helps you adjust early rather than realizing too late that you’ve drifted away from your plan.

Keeping track also helps when you hit obstacles. Reviewing your progress allows you to identify exactly where you need support if you get stuck or feel unsure of the next step. Whether that means seeking advice, learning a new skill, or adjusting your approach, you’re more likely to find solutions rather than feeling frustrated or giving up.

Here’s a process that will help you keep track of progress:

Set a reminder every three months to review your progress. This allows you to reflect on what’s working and what’s not working so that you can make necessary adjustments.
Track small wins along the way. Celebrating progress keeps you motivated and reinforces positive behaviour.
Stay flexible. Life happens and some goals might need to shift as you grow and gain new insights. Your plan is a living document. Don’t be afraid to revise the plan if a goal no longer serves your vision or if it has been overtaken by time and/or circumstances. The key is to stay intentional, measure your progress, adjust, and keep moving forward.

By setting regular check-ins and adjusting your plan as needed, you’ll stay on track and ensure that your five-year plan remains relevant and achievable.

Make It Happen

Creating a plan for your life starts with setting a clear destination. Many people fail to plan their lives in a meaningful way. They focus on the short term without considering the bigger picture and thus, end up not creating anything substantial in the future.

A well-thought-out 5-year plan can serve as a roadmap to help you create meaningful progress and lasting change. By planning, setting goals, and building strong habits, you’ll be well on your way to shaping your desired future.

What will your 5-year plan look like? Start working on it today and take control of your future.

(Photo by Mark Fletcher-Brown on Unsplash)

When you’re ready, here are ways I can help you create a plan for your life

➡️ Clarity Session: This is perfect if you only want clarity, direction, and a solid plan for the year. It’s ideal if you already have goals and just want to map out your next steps & create an agile plan.

➡️ Strategy Session Pack: This is a discounted pack of 5 coaching sessions that are spread over 2 months. This is perfect if you’re unsure where to start or want a deeper dive into your goals. We will brainstorm your vision for the next 3 years, create an agile 3-year plan, and map out a strategy for achieving your top 3 goals for the first 12 months of your plan. This plan is agile enough to withstand economic and political uncertainties.

➡️ Break Free, Live Your Life: This 4-month program helps high-achieving women transition to the next level in their career or business without compromising their values and priorities. The program works on four major themes: Clarity, Confidence, Courage, and Control. Each module includes in-depth content, practical exercises, and assignments for application and growth. Click here to find out more about Break Free.