The Single Best Way to Make Your Dreams Come True in Five Years

There are some proven ways to accomplish big goals, but they occasionally fail for a simple reason: people don’t even try them. Today’s tip could well fit into that category.

I’d like to suggest that you follow a practice I’ve found helpful, which is to write down—in great detail—exactly how you want your life and career to be in five years.

To get you started, I’d suggest you use these eight domains, drawn from the work of Tony Robbins, as prompts to begin your writing.

That is, how do you want your health to be in five years? What sports or fitness activities will you enjoy doing? How will you feel when you wake up every day?

What will be the state of your relationships? How much time will you be spending with your significant other? How much with family members and friends? What kinds of activities will you be doing?with them?

If you have kids, how old will they be in five years, and how will this impact your relationship with them?

Go through each category (or add some of your own) and write in great detail how you want your life to be a half decade from now. Where will you live? What will your home look like? Will you eat differently? Will you have new hobbies?

Think about work as well. What will your role be? What kinds of people will you work with? Are there particular customers you’ll focus on? Will you have new skills? What will you be known for? How will people describe you?

How about travel? What kinds of business and leisure travel will you be doing five years in the future? Can you picture yourself strolling in a certain city, or on a beach, or a mountain top? Who will you be traveling with?

Or perhaps your goal may be to stop flying so much. Imagine this perfect future and describe it in detail.

I did this exercise with three friends. We each wrote for about 30 minutes, then shared what we had written. Listening to how they described their future day gave me new insights about what my own future could potentially hold...things I hadn’t thought of on my own.

One wanted to create a worldwide community of collaborators in his field of expertise. Another foresaw living in another country, immersed in a new culture. The third envisioned being in business with her children.

When you hear someone else’s dreams, you expand your own.

Save the pages you’ve written. Then take them out and read them at least once per year.

Visualizing your ideal future in such rich detail helps you understand precisely what you want. And when you know what you want, you’re far, far more likely to attain it.?

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Amanda Setili helps successful leaders and their teams agree on what needs to change and how to make it happen. She is author of?Fearless?Growth :?The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets, and?The Agility Advantage , How to Identify and Act On Opportunities in a Fast-Changing World.?

For more strategies, videos and free materials, please visit?www.setili.com , and check out these quick examples of the type of work we do. ?Or, contact?Amanda ?to discuss how she works with companies to improve profits, performance and growth.