create a 5 year plan

I just turned 30 and realize that I have wishes and hopes and dreams, but no direction. We all know that if a ship has no sail all winds blow the wrong way. Well It’s time to have plans and angles, goals and movement in my life. No more wishes.

because even 3 months later, it’s still true!

i had my birthday and asked ian where he saw himself in a year. i guess i have to make the same estimation for myself! i’m going to combine this with my vision board and see what i come up with!

Well it’s been about two years since I wrote my first 5-year plan, so I’d like to revise it a little (and be a little more specific, this time around).
This one will take me to mid-2014. I’ll be 24! Egads.

College: Graduate! That’s pretty straightforward. I have two years left. I’d really like to bring my GPA up quite a bit during that time (see here). Also, I need to get research experience before I graduate.

Graduate School: Take the GRE. Apply to schools. Get into school(s). Do well in all of my courses. Pass my quals. Definitively pick a thesis topic (I have an area of study I’m interested in now, but I change my mind a lot, and it’ll need to be more specific anyway).

Travel: I had on here before “travel to at least 2 other countries and 3 places in the US.” Within the week I’ll have completed 1 country and the 3 places in the US. I don’t anticipate being able to travel out of the country as much once I start grad school… it’s hard to put down a number. If I go somewhere in Europe again I’m likely to hit more than one country. I could fairly easily go up to Canada and cross off one more. I guess we’ll stick with two countries, and maybe two more US states. Also: moving! I go to school relatively close to where I’ve lived all my life, so I plan to do grad school somewhere far away. So I guess I’ll probably have a fun cross-country roadtrip on my way there.

Running: Man I have been waffling all over the place with this. I’ve had good periods and bad periods but I really need to put more work into this. I’ve made a little progress, but not much. 5k within the next year, and onwards and upwards after that.

Money: Same as before, sort of keep around an emergency fund of indeterminable value. I guess a thousand or two dollars. Otherwise, saving for travel. It’s really hard for me to say what it’ll be like once I graduate.

Try Some New Things: Fun things like windsurfing and rock climbing and all that. I’ve really wanted to get into hiking and caving for a while. I really just need to go for it.

Earn my Degre

After some considerable thought, and seeing this goal plastered to the screen next to “follow my spirit,” I’ve decided to mark this goal as complete. “Complete,” you ask? “Why, you’ve only made it to this year in your five-year plan!”

Well. F*ck that. I don’t know what is going to happen in the next five years. And I really not like to try and plan everything down to the month. That’s not me at all. If it was, I would have checked this baby off my list months ago. My five-year plan now? Enjoy life fiercely and let it unfold its path before me, and take it for what it is.

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” -John Lennon

I have been thinking about this lately as I haven’t had any goals for myself for awhile and really feel I am just floating in life going now where which is a problem. I am have been so passive these past few years and the time flew by. I am turning 22 in a month in 2 days and I am still not done my degree and am not doing that well either. Why? I have been floating along without care. I could have been done my degree this year like most of my friends and be heading into my career or grad school or even teachers college but I am not. I have no awards or accomplishments to speak of, I don’t do half the things I want to go because I always think I will do it tomorrow and I can’t keep doing that. So its time to make a 5 year plan and accomplish all I can in the next 5 years instead of watching the years pass me by and start wondering what happened? I will be 30 before I know it!

I just wrote my 5 year plan over the weekend. My main goals :

1. Graduate college with my Bachelor’s degree.
2. Being working on my MSW.
3. Do the best I can at my internship.
4. Actively look for a job that has something to do with what I am going to school for.
5. QUIT MY JOB (but only if I find another one with my degree).
6. Become financially stable.
7. Continue my relationship with Salvador, enjoy our time together, and not obsess about the future so much that it causes me to miss out on the present.

I started working on my plan by setting short-term and long-term goals. It’s interesting to think about where I want to be in five years, especially since I’m not sure what it is I want to do with my life. I have a general direction I want to take, and that’s mostly it. I suppose what would help is taking steps toward that direction and maybe it’ll become clearer as I head toward it, as your field of vision does when walking in fog.

See the given up goal with this title for more information.

Since I’m starting a energy healing practice, which is also a passion for me, I figured it would be a good idea to create a five-year plan and decide where I’d like to take the business.

I was taking a meditation class today, and as part of the class, we accessed our higher selves for a message. My question was “what’s my next step in relation to my business?” In my mind’s eye, I saw myself hunched over my desk, scribbling something on a long piece of paper (this is unusual for me since I “write” most things on the computer these days, except when journaling and note-taking). I had a sense that I was writing my five-year plan, only it was very visual with diagrams and drawings of what I’d like to accomplish. I then held up the long piece of paper to look at it as a whole, in order to see the big picture.

So I guess this is good for me to do and not just a whim. I’ll take a crack at creating the plan next week.