Has anyone ever asked you what your 5 year plan was? I can still remember the first time someone asked me that question. I was in my mid twenties, I was a bartender, and I was very much in a YOLO stage of my life. I wanted to have enough money to live in a nice house, go out with my friends, and go on vacation when I wanted to. I certainly wasn’t looking towards the future other than considering how much longer I wanted to be a bartender. 

When the question was presented all I could think was, I have absolutely no idea. I remember walking away from the conversation thinking that I was doing life all wrong. That maybe I should try to come up with a plan. 

It seemed like an impossible task. I asked myself if 5 years ago I would have seen myself where I am now and the answer was a very definite no. I thought I would be doing something with my art degree not slinging drinks. I was lost trying to figure out what the next 5 years would look like.

If I have learned anything through the years, it is that life is unpredictable. There are so many things that have happened over the last 20 years that I never thought would happen or could have planned for. 

While life is unpredictable setting an intention for your day, week, month, or year helps give more direction to your life. 

This doesn’t always mean that things happen the way I intend them to but it does give my life more clarity. Clarity was what I was searching for.

Like all habits I have been successful with, I started with something really small; I started by setting my intention for the day. At the end of my meditation practice I would set an intention for my business, my relationships, my finances, or all three. Oddly enough, when I began setting my intention, things in my life started to take shape the way I wanted them to. 

Eventually, I took the next right step for me and set an intention for my week. I would sit down at the beginning of my week with a clear focus for my business, relationships, finances, and personal goals. I could begin to tell when I was successful in what I was working towards and when I wasn’t. I also realized my intention needed more clarity because by the end of the week I would forget some of the things I had intended to do.

I then moved on to setting an intention for the month. On the first of each month I would sit down and set my intention for the various parts of my life. To help give me more clarity I would then write my intentions down in my journal. This allowed me to check in during the month to see how things were going and to change my action or redefine the goal if needed. It also allowed me to notice when I was accomplishing what I had set out to do. 

I’m working on being able to set an intention for the year.  Quarterly, I sit down and look back at the last 3 months. I see what I have accomplished and where I need to redefine my intention and then I am better able to see how I would like my year to look. 

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed  when considering your 5 year plan or just want more clarity, focus, and direction in your day to day life, start setting an intention for your day, week, month, or year. As always, if you need any support or just a few words of encouragement to get started I’m just an email away.