BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Life Coaching What are your Five Year Goals?

The next step once you have your five year goals set is to then narrow it down to One Year Goals.

You are extremely fortunate to have that, Lisa. Remember to be thankful for it.

I'm just glad to know that I'm done with Camp Verde. It was a good effort, but it didn't work out. The noseeum issue is what really put the nails on the coffin. I have friends here now, which I wanted, but I don't feel sad about leaving. I am sure I'll come through the area from time to time no matter what.

My goal for this year is to figure out where I am supposed to be living. It might be Yuma, and it might be with my parents. It could be something I haven't thought of yet.

In five years, I plan to have been living where I am meant to be living. Isn't this a strange problem to have? I bet most people know where they are supposed to be living.

Dear Jilly -

Your current location was a wonderful transition period for you! You got to practice a variety of skills. You learned valuable things. You built a strong network. Now you can use all of that to be even better at your next location!

Life comes one step at a time and you've done wonderfully here. You're ready for that next step!

I think a five year goal of being where you are meant to be is perfect. This place helped you figure out some pros and cons. Now you can take your time to explore your next options.

I would bet that you're moving closer towards some of your other five year goals as well!

OK I last reviewed my long-term goals in November, so I'm due for a refresh. I had:

*Earn my bachelor's degree
*BellaOnline < 30 empty sites
*Have zero messages in all queues
*House organized
*Native American wedding book complete
*Earn $3000 from romance novel sales
*Have 15 medieval books published
*Do shoulder press yoga pose
*Body fat at 16%
*Play moonlight sonata on piano
*Play dueling banjos on guitar


I'm enjoying my murder mystery novels that I did at NaNoWriMo and want to continue that, so I want to add in

* Have 5 murder mystery novels published

My bachelor's degree is only a few months away! It's so amazing that it is near completion .

The "house organized" one strikes me as just too vague. Goals have to be specific to work. That isn't specific at all. How would I measure it? How about "have floors and counters clear of piles" - *that* sounds good. That's a specific thing I could aim to achieve.

I am just not making progress on this native american wedding book. I was fired up when the new publishers took over, but then I've heard nothing. There was supposed to be a big push for a relaunch right now, and I haven't heard a peep despite sending them messages. So I'm losing energy again. Which is a shame because I did a TON of research for it. I wonder if they lost traction again. I wrote them on the 21st; I'm trying again right now.


OK so my new goal list is this -

*Earn my bachelor's degree
*BellaOnline < 30 empty sites
*Have zero messages in all queues
*Floors and counters clear of piles
*Native American wedding book complete
*Earn $3000 from romance novel sales
*Have 15 medieval books published
*Have 5 mystery novels published
*Do shoulder press yoga pose
*Body fat at 16%
*Play moonlight sonata on piano
*Play dueling banjos on guitar

I feel good about that!

How are you guys doing? Have you reviewed your long term goal list recently? The aim is not necessarily to hit all those goals, but to have "direction" to aim your short term goals at. You want to make sure the things you do short term actually serve your overall dreams in life.

I have a few ideas simmering to add here. I need to sit down and think them through.

Simmering is good Jilly - let us know when you have a fresh view of your long term goals!

I am nearing the end of my bachelor's degree project! I'm halfway through my spring-1 classes. Then just one last class and I'm done!

I thought I'd chimed in on this thread but guess not. With all the unexpected stuff life has tossed my way, I rarely thought about five years ahead. I tend to live in the now more than ever before because NOW is pretty good.

The past holds pain (my little boy died.) The future may very well be filled with pain, too (my daughter has the same terminal disorder.) But hers is a mild case and she may outlive me; no one knows.

So five years from now? {{shrug}}

We are happy now. We all feel as though life has been an extraordinary experience, filled with learning and growth. Each day brings something to discover or to enjoy. How fortunate are we? Very!

I am 52 now and have experienced a lot in my life already. I'd say the most important things to me, like finding my true love, having our children, etc.

But if we're talking about tangible accomplishments, I'd say that these are my goals:
1. See all of my children's books published.
2. Continue to publish my self-help ebooks that I hope help people live better lives.
3. Move from this home. It was given to me by my aunt but I am giving it to my sisters to avoid any family discord.
4. Create a new home for us and make it beautiful. Surrounded by nature!
5. Have established a healthy and vibrant lifestyle.
6. Adopt two more dogs (one a pure bred Border Collie and the other a Giant Pyrenees.) Won't do this until I have a larger property.
7. Take my family to explore this earth.
8. Be adept at photography to illustrate my own ebooks.
9. Be multi-lingual with friends of all cultures.
10. Be an active supporter of charitable causes and a patron of the arts.
11. Keep learning!

Those are my five-year goals.

Lori -

You absolutely are shouldering a great deal. You should be sure to nurture yourself and care for your own health.

Your five year goals are a great start! There are some wonderful things in there. Now to turn them into phrasing that does its very best to help you reach them.

Goals do best when they are written in a way which is SMART - specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and time-based. We have the time-based part, we're working on the five year set. Yours all seem realistic and attainable. So now we need to make them specific and measureable.

For example, I want to have less body fat on me. So rather than say "less fat" I found a specific measurement that made sense in terms of my goals - 16% body fat.

So on #1, how many children's books do you have? Make that specific. Publish X children's books. Because you might start up some more in the meantime .

#2 also needs some specificity. How many would you like to have in your library in five years? Five books? Ten? Think of a number that would make you proud and is also reasonable, and put that down.

Go through your list and think of ways to quantify each one. That then helps you break down your one year list, based on these longer term goals.

Today's Earth Day challenge is to review or create your five year and one year goals! Start with the five year ones. That way you know your one year goals work in service of the longer term ones.



Post with your updates!

I last reviewed mine in January so I'm do for a quarterly review.

I thought about removing bachelor's degree from the list, as I'm so close to completing it, but I suppose it's still "not done". So I'll leave it on as a goal so I can then complete it!

The Native American book keeps lingering on there. I need to get that set. But that's also on my one year goal. What happens after that? I think I will update that so I have 5 books in that series in five years. I'd like to keep writing more. And also the other 3 books need to be updated. So I'll revise that one to having 5 fully revised books both in paperback and ebook form.

Also I'd like to start publishing sci-fi novels; I have two partially done. So I'll add that in.

I'm enjoying working on the yard, so I'll also add in having the yard area prettied up.

* Earn my bachelor's degree
* BellaOnline < 30 empty sites
* Zero messages in all queues
* 5 weddings and courtships books published
* 15 medieval books published
* 5 mystery novels published
* 2 sci-fi novels published
* Earn $3000 from romance novel sales
* Floors and counters clear of piles
* Outside yard organized and pretty
* Do shoulder press yoga pose
* Body fat at 15%
* Play moonlight sonata on piano
* Play dueling banjos on guitar