Do you have a clear, deliberate, and honest answer to the question:
“Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years?”
Oftentimes when I was asked that question in the past, it kind of gave me a little bit of anxiety. I would think, ‘Oh, man, where should I be in 10 years? Are my goals and ambitions too small? Or is that unachievable?’
Others simply think, ‘I don’t know where I want to be.’
The argument to that is, then you’re just gonna end up someplace. If you’re not taking consistent action towards an end game, you might just end up wherever the breeze takes you.
And I don’t think anybody who is a high achiever just wants to end up in any old place.
So I want to share a tactical tip to go through your collection of thoughts in a way that will help you identify your long-term plan. Focus on the three R’s: Review, Reflect, React.
Review
As you prepare to set long-term goals, take the time to review your past thoughts, visions, and plans. If you’re someone who writes in journals, don’t just review your most recent journal, go through and review your last 5 or 10. Take the time one afternoon to go through and read all of these journals.
Maybe your journal is in your note app, on your phone, maybe you have an accountability partner and it’s all living in your text message threads. Go back and read old text messages and emails, listen to past voicemails, review your DM’s; anything that shows what you have been doing leading up to this moment. I’d encourage you to go review everything you have access to and go deep.
If you’ve kept records of your thoughts in any form, go back four or five years. It’s really interesting to say, ‘Wow, I’ve checked that off. I can’t believe I was thinking that way four or five years ago. Wow, look at everything I’ve accomplished, I could have even shot a little bigger.’ Go back in time, and just take a look at what you’ve done.
Reflect
Now that you have reviewed the past, it’s time to reflect.
What was most important to you in the past? Is it still important to you now?
Every year, every day, we’re getting better. Take a look at the areas where you see growth: How have you changed? Have you now become a different version of yourself? Do you have an even bigger ambition?
As you reflect, also take the time to notice what didn’t go as planned:
What did you miss?
What was right there for you to do that I should have done but didn’t?
Reflect on all the opportunities that happened and the ones that didn’t.
React
React to what can be done about everything you just reviewed and reflected on. If you have a big goal for your 10-year plan, your reaction starts in September when you build out your vision and business plan for 2022.
What building blocks need to be in place to get you to that 10-year plan?
This is a great time of year to review, reflect and react. Get your three R’s in alignment so you don’t just end up somewhere that the breeze takes you.
Now is the time to react and start to take action, control your own destiny!