“WHERE DO YOU SEE yourself in five years?” is a tough question to answer. It’s so open-ended that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what we want to say. Let’s tweak it so the question becomes a powerful way to envision your career plans.
Think of the person closest to you. Usually this is a spouse, partner, parents or kids. Now, imagine that person five years older than they are and put an age to it. Imagine what that person will look like and how active they will be at that age.
Sobering to think about, isn’t it?
As you imagine life with them five years from now, consider these three questions:
- What do you want to do together?
- What do you want to be together?
- What do you want to have together?
What you want to do together refers to experiences that would be meaningful to share with that person. What you want to be refers to the kind of relationship you want to have with that person. What you want to have together refers to tangible things you want to share with that person.
Now, what do we do with the answers to these questions? We take a long, hard look at our career or business. Consider if the decisions you are making now will help you achieve the goals you’ve written down or if you are so busy that they are just ideas you “hope to get to one day.”
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That “one day” is today. If you aren’t working on the things you wrote down today, you likely never will.
The most meaningful careers are not crafted through financial success (though it sure is helpful!). The most meaningful careers are the ones that contribute to a meaningful life, and that is defined by the people in our lives and the memories we make with them.
It’s easy to forget that we don’t live to work, we work to live. Seeing into your future career may be hard to do. However, when I’ve asked our coaching clients to consider life with a loved one in five years, they are able to quickly rattle off dreams and goals they’ve envisioned but have yet to fulfill.
So, entertain this thought experiment now. With your answers in hand, grab a mentor or a coach and make plans in your career to make these dreams a reality. Savor every minute you are given with that person in the next five years. I can confidently say you won’t regret shaping your career goals with them in mind.
