Getting your life sorted for 2021 and feeling kinda smug? I’m not here to burst your bubble, but next-year planning just ain’t cutting the mustard anymore! Planning ahead is a surefire way to achieve results in your personal and professional life. To really *nail* that success, you’re going to need to start thinking longer term. 

How long term? Well, let’s just say that 2026 is going to be *your* year. Yep - that’s right - a 5 year plan should be a central part of your personal planner, and the  BOSS personal planner has a useful 5 year plan template so you don’t even have to spend time wondering where to start. 

If you want to start planning for future success, the road begins here! Read on to learn how to make a 5 year plan and the most important things to include in your own!

What Should a 5 Year Plan Template Include?

A five year plan doesn’t write itself. Although - holy heck - wouldn’t it be great if it did? Writing your 5 year plan is going to require some serious reflection, a  good planner, and probably a serious cup of coffee or three. 

Ideally your 5 year plan will not only involve you looking forward, but also looking back on the last five years, the progress you have made, the mistakes you have learned from, and the things you still have left on your lifelong to-do list.

There are a range of things your 5 year plan template can include, and ultimately you should develop one that fits your own unique needs and circumstances. Generally speaking, the following areas of your life are useful to plan ahead for: 

• Your career
• Your relationships
• Your home/living situation
• Your financial goals
• Your social/family life
• Your bucket list

Start big with a brainstorm or freestyle doodle of how you see your life in five years’ time. Get down all your ideas so you can see them in one place, and from there you can condense and refine your key wishes into an effective plan to take you from where you are now, to where you want to be. 

Plan As If You’ve Already Got What You Want

Never underestimate the power of positive thinking. If the person you’re hoping to become in 5 years’ time is confident, successful, happy, and courageous, then start channeling that person RIGHT NOW. 

Write using affirmatives such as: “I will be living here. I will be working in my chosen field. I will be more confident, more relaxed, more productive.” 

A 5 year plan isn’t a wish list. It’s an action-based document that you should genuinely and determinedly attempt to fulfill. There’s no room here, then, for “I hope” and “if possibles.” Your 5 year plan is all about WILL, CAN, and WHENs. 

Set Year-By-Year Goals to Move Toward Your 5 Year Plan

Setting up a 5 year plan is a great move, but you’re going to need baby steps to reach your overarching goals. 

Don’t forget to write down your year-by-year plans at the same time you formulate your longer-term goals. 

For example, if your plan in five years’ time is to be working full-time as an author, then your one year plan could be to have a piece of your work published in some shape or form. 

Make sure that in your rush to get where you’re going, you don’t overlook the importance of the ladder you’re building to get there. 

Go Big on Action Points

Both your five year plan and your year-on-year plan won’t get you anywhere if you don’t set up strong action points to follow. Planning itself means very little without action and follow-through, and you can ensure you achieve both those things by plotting achievable action points along the way. 

If your dream is to become a pilot, for example, then you can’t fly without grounding yourself first. That means action points such as: 

• Go to pilot school
• Get medical
• Get licence 
• Get certified
• Fulfill practice hours

The list goes on! 

These action points are the heart of a plan - they’re what take your dream from simple goals to a roadmap for success. 

Make Sure Your Family is On Board

It’s great to have a dream. Some of us have very strong ideas about where we see ourselves in five years’ time. But don’t forget the other important people in your life! They’re walking this road with you, and if they have very different ideas about where their own life is heading over the next five years then you could find yourself faced with a bit of a stalemate! 

It’s more common than you’d think, for example, for soon-to-be married couples to have quite different ideas about where they will live after the wedding! The groom wants to move back to his hometown, the bride to hers, and suddenly you have a *whole* situation where two very strong plans for the future suddenly lead to one very big uncertainty. 

Write your five year plan out, then sit down and discuss it with your significant other or closest family members. Are there things in your plan that clash with their own visions of the future? What happens if you’re planning a shift to the country and your spouse has big plans for climbing the career ladder in the big city? 

Taking your dreams and making them work for your whole family is an important part of any 5 year plan. 

Make a Start with This 5 Year Plan Template

A lot can happen in five years. You could go from single to married. From fur babies to real babies. From college to a 9 to 5. Some of this will fall to chance and lady luck. But many aspects of your life and your future achievements can be planned for, and to do that, you’ll need a decent planner and a good 5 year plan template fighting in your corner. 

The best place to start is with the  BOSS Ultimate Personal Planner which includes pages and a template for your own five year planning. 
We hope this post has helped you understand how to make a 5 year plan that works for you and your family.  Get started now, and we’ll see you in 2026!