First, let’s explore what one-year and five-year plans are, and why they are so important. One-year and five-year plans serve as important roadmaps for you and your goals. You can’t accomplish a goal without a plan, just like you can’t navigate to someplace new without a roadmap. (Or maybe you can, but you’re much more likely to get lost along the way!) By creating one-year and five-year plans, you can give yourself both a map and some room to adjust as you work on your short-term and long-term goals, and personal growth.
One-Year Plan
How To:
1. Create a Mission Statement
A mission statement is like your motto for the year. It is meant to inspire and excite you. Who do you want to be? What is the main goal of the year for you? How can you sum it up in a phrase that excites and inspires you? Start with the words I am a person who… and go from there.
2. Create Affirmations
Affirmations are positive phrases that you repeat to yourself to keep you focused, joyful, grateful, on track, etc. Affirmations for your one-year plan should be reminders of both what your goals are and the mindset required in order to achieve those goals. Examples might be: I am capable I am right where I am meant to be I can do hard things I am a successful at ___ I trust and love myself Important affirmation note: They must be believable to you. When you speak them, you have to actually feel as though they could be true. If they feel too out of reach, then bring them back a notch. For example: If the statement, I love and trust myself, is too much of a stretch, try I am learning to love and trust myself; or, Every day I get better at loving and trusting myself. Just be sure that when you speak or think the affirmation, it gives you feelings of authenticity, not skepticism, and you’re not rolling your eyes or scoffing at what a far-off impossibility it is.
3. Craft a Vision Statement
A vision statement is a declaration written in the present tense about your life in the future. You need to create a visual that your brain can align with, both about the person you want to be and the life you want to have in the next year, and eventually, five years. It has to be real; you have to be able to feel, taste, touch, hear, smell, the life you want. List details about the weather, the house, the people around you. Describe how it feels. Consider the actions and the results that got you to this future self. It has to be so crystal clear that you can picture it with your eyes closed; as though you have already lived it, or are living it right now.
4. Set Your Goals
To see my full post on effective goal setting and to get a more in-depth goal setting click HERE. For this section of your one-year plan, you will examine your goals for the year in three parts:
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The Yearly Goals
Outline your big goals for the year and set dates for accomplishing them. Some of your big goals might depend on a smaller, daily, or monthly habit, so set a date by which you will implement those habits. For example: I want to exercise three times per week. Set the goal to be doing that consistently by the end of February.
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Goal Breakdown
This is where you look at each goal and break down what you need to do to accomplish it. Does the goal have several parts? Do you have something you must learn before you can accomplish the goal? If it’s a multi-part goal, make a plan with dates.
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Goal Tracking
You can use a more in-depth goal setting method explained HERE to get super specific about each goal, but in this section, think about how you will know if you are on track with your goal. You need to have stops along the way that will inform you if you are on track or if you need to recalibrate, and you can do this by setting certain benchmarks. Once you have a benchmark for each step, create a Plan B for each step as well. For example: Create an “If ___, then ___.” statement for each step. “If I don’t make it to the gym today, then I will go for a walk this afternoon.” Lastly, reward yourself! Give yourself credit for small wins! Make the journey to accomplishing your goals pleasurable (at least a little) by pre-planning rewards for hitting certain benchmarks along the way, and a special reward for the final goal. 
Five-Year Plan
How To:
Now that you have created a one-year plan, you can move on to more long-term goals. For the five-year plan, you will be a bit more open; less specific about each goal, but looking more toward who, where, and what you want to be in five years.
1. Craft a Vision Statement
The most important part of the five-year plan is the vision statement. You want to spend some time really thinking about where you want to be in five years and what that will feel like. Who will you be? How will that feel? Who and what will be surrounding you? What will a day in the life of you-in-five-years be like? Make it really clear and visual so you can see it and BELIEVE it is true.
2. Set Yearly Goals
I like to make quick yearly goals in this section. I copy my goal section from my one-year plan, and then for years two through five, I like to break it down by quarter. This gives you a rough map of where you want to be. For example: Say you want to be married in five years. Put that in Q4 of year five and work back from there. What does year four look like? A committed relationship. What about year three? Finding a partner. Year two? Going on dates. Year one? Personal growth and development. Or, let’s say you have a big goal of creating a six-figure business in the next five years. Start in year five, Q4, and put “six-figure business” then work back from there. What do you need to be doing in Q1-3 of year five to get there? In year four? All the way back to this year. This can really help you to create benchmarks for what you should be aiming for each year.
Conclusion
Once you are all finished, go back and re-read the vision statements and make sure they get you excited, feel possible, and are believable to you. Keep this worksheet somewhere handy so you can consult it often. I like to check in on my one-year vision statement and goals at the beginning of each month. I read my five-year vision statement anytime I’m feeling discouraged or need a boost. And of course, I revisit it each new year and make adjustments accordingly! Planning your goals and creating a strong vision for the person you want to be, and the life you want to lead, in one and five years, is a great way to help you on the road to actually becoming and achieving what you want in life! And if you are serious about achieving your goals and future planning you are going to need some accountability help! And guess what?
I help Gutsy women just like you achieve their goals with confidence and ease in as little as 3 months!
So why not hop on a call with me and figure out once and for all what is causing you to fall short on your goals and what to do about it?
For More on Goal Setting Check Out:
The Ultimate Goal Setting Worksheet Goal Setting 101: Six Easy Steps The Importance of Mindset in Goal Achievement Impossible Goals The Importance of Identifying the Emotion Fueling Your Goal Goal Setting Perspective-Infinite First Step Find your Why: 10 Tips for Personal Goal Setting The One Simple Step to Actually Achieving Your New Year’s Resolutions
