It’s Jan 10, 2019.

Our New Year celebrations are already fading from memory and we’ve already broken at least two of our new diet rules for the year. It’s cold, It’s rainy and snowy and we would really just like to settle in with a cozy blanket and binge watch our latest Netflix obsession. 

But it is a new year and perhaps, now that we’ve made our quick resolutions to exercise more and lose some weight, we need to look a little more deeply at our life.

For many of us, 2018 was a year of ups and downs. Some good. Some bad. Some uplifting joy. Some devastating heartbreak. We had some successes and experienced some things we couldn’t control. As we begin a new year, It’s worth hitting pause on Netflix and asking ourselves some deeper questions about what we want from our life and career in 2019. 

Where do you want to be in five years?

It’s a good question to start with. We often make our New Years resolutions and set new goals thinking of our immediate future.

To lose a few pounds.

To eat more vegetables.

To finally run that 10K.

But, an even better exercise is to stop and take stock of where we are right now  - not just the address - but where are you in your career? in your personal life? in your relationships? in your finances? in your dreaming and hoping? 

Stop for a few minutes and just take stock. Write down your current situation. You can simply jot down some notes or take your time and map it out in detail. Where are you right now - on this cold day in January?

And then ask yourself the next questions.

• Where do you want to be in five years? How old will you be?

• What will be different in your personal life?

• What can you imagine that you will be doing? What do you want to be doing?

• What dreams do you have for your five year older self?

• What hopes are you excited about?

• Where will you be living? Where would you like to be living?

• What dreams have you put on the back burner to take care of other things?

• What do you imagine for yourself financially, personally? professionally?

Write it all down and date it. Take time to ponder and think about what’s most important. What really matters?

Five years will go by in a flash. It’s time to make a plan to get headed at least in the right general direction.

What are three small steps you can take this month to move closer to those dreams?

Write them down and then break them down again.

What is one even smaller thing you can do in the next week to get started on your dreams?

What can you do today?

It’s time to take a small step forward. You can get there. One step at at time.

Anita Flowers is a board certified life and career coach at Blue Sage Career Strategies. You can read more about her here. And while you’re making your five year plan, check out the LifeWork Project® which begin February 11. It’s a 21 day e-course designed to help you create a life and career that you love. Learn more and sign up at The LifeWork Project® or contact Anita for more information.