Where will you be five years from now?

Each year life offers itself to us in an endless number of ways. Each moment comes to us with both hands filled with gifts, challenges, opportunities to better ourselves and all the adventures life throws at each of us. But stop and think.... how often do we see or accept more than a tiny fraction of the exciting possibilities that life has to offer on a daily....

The truth is, most of us are so busy doing what we think we have to do that we never get around to doing what we really want to do.

This article celebrates the "want to's" the "choose to's" and the "I can't wait to's in your life. Whether you are just finishing school, starting a new venture, or envisioning your retirement, you need to remember you are the hero of your own story.

Here are five things to remember to to think about to help you get to where you want to in the next five years of your life.

DECIDE WHAT'S NEXT IN YOUR LIFE AND STRATEGIZE HOW TO GET IT.

You don't have to take life the way it comes to you. You can design your life to come to you the way you want it. This is your life, your one-and-only-life, and you don't want to miss any part of it. Starting today, you can make the next five years the most exciting, satisfying, productive and amazing years of your life so far -- or just another five years.

Think about what it is you want to have in your life over the next five years. What do you really want to have, what do you want to do, who or what do you really want to be, and where do you really want to go you want to have in your life over the next five years. What do you really want to have, what do you want to do, who or what do you really want to be, and where do you really want to go.

Five Years....... 260 weeks...... 1,820 days...... 2,620,800 minutes. It is your time.. what are you going to do with it?

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein. "

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

LIVE YOUR LIFE ON PURPOSE.

We have all heard the saying, "Live your life with purpose." But how many of you have ever stopped and said, "No, I'm going to live my life on purpose? The best day of my life was when I finally realized this life is mine and I do not have to live it for anyone else. The best day of my life was when I realized my decisions are mine to make, it also was the day I realized I do not need to lean on anyone, nor blame anybody. It is an amazing journey and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. Life is about the choices you make, not what others make for you.

Have you ever wondered by companies lead with "guiding principles" and that their mission, vision and value's statement aligns with those guiding principles? But why don't you do it in your own personal life? You have to stop and think why do businesses do it but personally we don't? The question you should really be asking yourself is. "Why Not?"

Being guided by your highest personal values brings immense satisfaction and meaning to life. Some examples of lifetime values are things like: Family, Friendships, Health, Wealth, Learning Sustainability, Career, Community, Creativity, Adventure, Love.

CHOOSE YOUR MISSION ~ YOUR LIFE IS WORTH A NOBLE MOTIVE!

"Dedicate your life to a cause greater than yourself, and your life will become a glorious romance and adventure."

~Mack Douglas

Stop and think for a moment. What is your personal mission statement? What is your calling, your life's aim? What inspires you the most, What activity of service is your core values urging you to pursue? This may be the turning point your grandchildren, your kids, friends or even other family members will tell stories about years from now. The time you leap over the abyss to the other side of the Great Divide and begin your life in earnest.

On the other hand, this moment of truth may end up being nothing more than a brief awakening when you glimpse what's possible on toe other side of the great divide, but then tell yourself, "Nah, that way to long of a jump for me." In that case, your children, families members, grandchildren, and friends, will have to be content talking about who your favorite sports team was. It all depends on how brave you are to take the next step.

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, THEY KNOW THE WAY!

If you don't have a dream, how can you have a dream come true? People who regularly write down their goals, earn nine times as much over their lifetimes as the people who do not, and yet 80% of American's say they don't have goals. 16% do have goals, but they don't write them down. Less than four percent write down their goals, and fewer than one percent actually review them on a regular bases.

BE SPECIFIC

When you walk into a restaurant, you don't just say, "Bring me some food." Instead, you are very specific and you pick exactly what you want from the menu.

Now let me ask the obvious question. "Why do we not do that with our own personal and professional lives?" The clearer you are on your wants makes it so much easier to visualize the goals which in return makes it easier to achieve or acquire it.

The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no starts to reach.

Think BIG

Most people don't aim to high and miss. They aim to low and hit.

There is not one person in a thousand who can write down his or her most exciting dreams without at the same time telling themselves that "it's probably impossible." The truth is, virtually anything is possible-- nothing is too good to be true. For whatever the reasons may be, 100% of the time we end up convincing ourselves that we can't instead of reimagining the way we think about the dream and planning to achieve those dreams.

Ask yourself this. What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

BIG ideas can be intimidating, but even your biggest and most daunting goal can be achieved if you simply break it up into bite-sized chunks. Remember, also, to think for yourself. Who are "they" who exercise so much power over our lives? "They" said that Elvis Presley couldn't sing. "They" said that James Joyce couldn't write. "They" said that Michael Jordan couldn't paly. What do "They" say about you?

At the end of the day remember this... Either you are living our someone else's dream for you, or you are setting your own course. Don't let other people tell you who you are. Form the habit of saying "Yes" to your own ideas. Then write down all the reasons why they will work. There will always be plenty of people around to tell you why they won't work.

Always remember your WHY.

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, both at night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting to find who you are and who you want to be. Surround yourself with people who believe in you.

"One of my best moves is to surround yourself with friends who, instead of asking, "Why" are quick to say, "Why Not?" That attitude is contagious.

Oprah Winfrey.