If you’re a business owner, where do you see this going?
What’s the 5 year goal/plan?
If you’re a freelancer, where do you see this going?
What’s the 5 year goal/plan?
If you’re an employee at a company, where do you see this going?
What’s the 5 year goal/plan?
If you’re something else, where do you see this going?
What’s the 5 year goal/plan?
I ask because I always have a tough time with this question. I may know a certain number for FU Money in my head or things like that, but I don’t quite know a 5 year plan. It would be really interesting to see other people’s 5 year goals/plans!
Sincerely,
Neville Medhora – Short Term Thinker
P.S. Lemme know in the comments where you see yourself in 5 years, I’m super curious what other people’s true motivations are!
(Feel free to use a fake name if needed)
In 5 years… (2020-2025)
I am a Triple Threat Copywriter, debt-free and ready to move & live in Japan :)
Awesomesauce! You’ve earned a new reader Neville! :)
Plans for the next 5 years?
I’ve launched GrowFollowing.com and my dream is to help other people with social media marketing.
Beside that – make more meaningful connections and make the world a better place :)
I looove this question!!!! I struggled a lot this year, trying to make a long-term vision/goal for my business and life (I do not even know where do I want to live lol ) Until last month, I decided to give up this long-term stuff. instead make some decisions that allow me to have more choices in the future . e.g. register a company in Singapore – in case, I want to move there one day. applying for Canada Permanent Residency visa-I don’t like cold weather, but who knows whether I will change my mind lol. Same with my business, we focus more on building a system that allows us to sell and grow, if we do not want to sell, we can still keep growing it . 90% of my time is spent on creating new products, if I feel bored one day, we don’t need to worry about selling it :D I am not sure about others, but, I am those type who will book a flight ticket before 48 hours lol . I have a five-year plan for the skill I want to develop :D teaching skill. which can be applied to creating better courses/teaching my employees/ creating fitness courses in the future/ teaching others to create courses and businesses. I am shocked by how much I love teaching.
Hey Neville,
Great question, as always!
I hold things like “5-year plans” loosely because life happens and things change. For example, if you told me two years ago that I would quit my job to be a full-time writer, I would have laughed in your face! But here I am!
In the last year, I shifted my business away from doing resumes and sales copywriting (but I still handle referrals from friends and past clients) to focusing on ghostwriting. These days, I help executives and entrepreneurs write their book so they can expand their personal and business brand.
But I know that not everyone can afford a ghostwriter. So I’m currently finishing up my own book called Write Your Book (the first three chapters are available as a free download, by the way). It should be ready for publication in early 2019. My purpose in this book is sharing what I know in an affordable way for “the masses.”
Some of my goals I want to achieve within in the next 1-5 years as a result of the publishing my book are:
These are things I’m currently making moves towards establishing in 2019. I hope that by 2024, I’m still doing those things on a grander scale with a team so that I can help more business people realize their dream of being a published author.
What do you think? Any suggestions for me?
Thanks as always,
Denise Renee
I don’t set goals anymore. Setting goals always keep my head in the clouds and I miss out on real self-improvement.
Neville, great question really! :) The question of course, was asked to make your readers, ‘think.’ In five, (5), years, God willing, I will have realized and gained more than I ever dreamed of in my life time. The reason for that will be because I will have focused on my, ‘goals,’ and aspirations and will have taken the correct action to create the outcome I desire. There will be trials and tribulations and unexpected events along the way but as long as I don’t lose my focus and I stay on track, I will wind up in one of two places in five years: either in heaven with the Lord God Jesus Christ or exactly where I wanted to be on earth. Thank you for your question :)
I think it’s been 5 years since I stopped planning for long-term goals. I’d rather always focus on now. What I want to do now, what I want to achieve now. I always know what is my next step and I am working on it. I almost never plan for second step. Results? Every year I have ended up in a place that I wouldn’t have imagened.
What you plan comes from a limited perspective. You always project future to be little better than what you have seen before. But what about something else, that has never happened to you or that you can’t even imagine? May look a bit scary for faint hearted. But focusing on the task you are working now, makes you more efficient in work and you can also enjoy life, not wasting your time constantly thinking of future… Then you are open for possibilities, which are infinite…
Goals are for losers.
Systems are for winners.
The next time that someone asks you to set a 5-year goal, RUN AWAY.
Don’t say anything. Just RUN AWAY.
See these for the case against goals:
http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/12/scott-adams-fail-at-everything/
http://www.calmachiever.com/ditch-goals-for-happiness/
http://jamesclear.com/goals-systems
https://www.fs.blog/2017/06/habits-vs-goals/
These are a FRACTION of the links I could send you.
You’re not a short-term thinker. You’re a realistic thinker.
I took the Kopywriting Kourse, by the way. Great content.
Like a digital entrepreneur, making one of the most giant e-commerce business man in Mexico :D and with a bunch of super cars … Haha! Thanks for let us dream!!
Funny you should ask. I just put together a very detailed year by year plan to retire in 5-6 years. It’s a combination of staying at my current job, continuing to live like a broke college student while saving 50%+ of my income, growing my side business and investing in cash flow real estate. At this point the only unknown is wether I’ll be able to hit the income goals for my side business. But having numbers that are tied to a specific goal helps. If I don’t grow the side biz I’m looking at 9 years till retirement. If I grow the side biz and see my salary rise in my day job then 4 years till retirement isn’t out of the question.
Well it seems like you’re well on your way whether it’s 5 years or 9 years!
Sounds like you’ve got this 5 year plan thing down, you are my new hero 😛
Hi Neville! Thank you for your daily insights in my mailbox!
Well, I’m 27-yo Brazilian architect and, while I face a scarcity of projects and opportunities in my country, I’m finding in kopywriting a new perspective. Five years from now, I see myself living in a better country, making great money writing kopy and taking frequent “work-cations” as you mentioned in one of your latest e-mails!
Hey Leo, that’s a great goal to look forward to! Workcations are the best….you get to do fun work AND goof off.
If geography is hindering your opportunities, I’d highly suggest you build an online presence through your own website or larger platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.
They are not the ideal platforms to be on forever, but they DO help you kickstart a freelancing career.
At 57, I’ve decided to pursue a career change. I’m in the research stage right now as to which direction to take my ‘love for writing’.
In 5 years I hope to be a successful blogger, freelance writer, proofreader and published author.
Hey Amanda, very cool! My main suggestion for any aspiring writer is to consistently put out writing.
Way too many people get caught up in this idea they have to spend years to write one magnum opus piece, but in reality most successful writers I know keep cranking out posts and articles and books over and over.
It’s how you get good :)
As a copywriter centering only on SaaS projects, I’d like to niche further down. Build upon my freelancer management skills and ability to work on more significant projects (I really hope their data doesn’t faze me!!) Besides, want to be classified as a copywriter who actively insists that my copy is tested & measured, all the time.
That sounds awesome Varun! Fortunately there’s some many great freelancer-finding options on the internet now like UpWork and Fiverr (In fact I did a content mill experiment where I got 50+ articles created with no work on my part).
If you find just a few freelancers you like working with, you can get get quite a bit done!
5 years from now I’m seeing myself living in Japan as an entrepreneur, my e-commerce business keep on growing. Then I’m excited to read this comment again because I made it :)
Oh snap…..tell Siri to remind you in 5 years to check this blog post 😛
Hi Neville (wavies)!
I used to be mired in 5-year plans. I have no idea who started the tradition, but it’s really only useful if you have a going corporation that is ready for expansion.
I’ve found that for the rest of us, x-days, x-weeks, 1-month, 3-month, and 12-month plans are plenty, and way less stressful. Goals one can actually accomplish in a short amount of time and pat ourselves on the back for.
So long as I stay on track, what I want 5 years from now will fall into place nicely.
I’m building a journey blog about building niches; I’m working on creating a product for a Spring launch; and I’m grabbing material to use for a membership area next year. In between those tasks, I spend time on list building. That’s it.
If all I do is stick to my guns with what I have on my plate, I’ll be able to afford the immediate goodies I need in a few months, with more available for enjoyment for years to come without worrying about distant time frames on distant planets.
Don’t get caught in mindless or misinterpreted tradition, sweet friend. Save yourself. Aaaah!
Hugs,
Annie
Bahhaha, I totally agree, 5 year goals are so far off it’s hard to keep your eye on them. I’m a big fan of keeping monthly goals as a way to keep on track instead.
In fact on my personal blog I’ve been tracking my monthly goals for years!
https://www.nevblog.com/category/goals/
Cool you’re tracking your progress on your new blog, best of luck and keep pushing!
I’d like to be a “Successful”free lance copy writer but at this point in time a complete beginner I am
Hey Mike, everyone starts SOMEWHERE ya know! Imagine if you took an hour a day to learn your craft or get experience, how much that would add up.
Even if you took 2 days a week to learn, after a year, two years, three years etc that adds up like crazy!
In 5 years, I will have 5 to 7 corporate B2B repeat copywriting clients. Next year I will startup a writers group to leverage each others skills and experience to collaborate. The local metro here is large and has plenty work for everyone. In five years we will dominate this market and region by supporting each other and even sharing projects when feasible.
Oh snap, that sounds awesome Dmac! Why not start the group now? Seems like an easy effort to start then slowly build till you’re ready to hardcore build it. I’ll join :-)
I SUCK AT MATH!!
But, I’m a Disciple to it… everyone is actually whether they realize it or not. As for myself, I came to this realization just recently (bout 2 years ago).
I mean, just look at these 👇🏻. They’re basically Mathematical Equations:
• 5 Years from now.
• Plans
• Money
I mean… for someone to have FIGURED out what they’ll be 5 years (1,825 days) from now to the “T”, I salute you bro/sis! For you have you Calculated (Guess-Ta-mated) all the Probabilities and Variables and came up with a Conclusion!
Not to overthink this…
but…
what if 5 Years from now… people became Zombies?
[Note: If you try to laugh at that statement about “Zombies”… I’ll slap the ignorance out of you with Links from Credible Resources proving that this is indeed Plausible!]
Ok. That one’s ☝🏿on me. Chances are low that you and I will be roaming around looking for malls to settle down in in an event of a Zombie Apocalypse.
But here’s some variables that have a higher possibility of happening (Within 5 years):
1. We get Diabetes-
Because we are emotionally weak and crave dopamine that we can only attain from below 👇🏻(And NOT exercising!):
A ) Watching Porn
B ) Playing Video games
C ) Social Media-ing
D ) Eating Donuts (Filled with fat sugar!… Duh 🙄)
2. The Rotchild’s say’s FU to all of us-
The world’s most richest and powerful Clan decided that, it’s time that these “Maggots” (Humans) stop dreaming of having Financial Freedom (No thanks to The Tim Ferrises, Dan Loks and Tony Robbins of the world) and Monopolized the whole E-Commerce thing.
Buying off Ali Baba, Amazon and all the Self help Gurus like Tai Lopezs and Jack Pittmans, leaving us all in an Abyss aka, Dark Age 2.
3. You get someone (or yourself) knocked up-
Having a day job that REQUIRES you to LISTEN to a Superior everyday is like a buffalo taking a diarrhea dump in your ear (AVGN reference 😉).
But, I LITERALLY can’t afford to lose mines because, if I did, We’d literally have nothing to eats 5 months from now (“Third worlder” here! $760/mnth salary baby!!).
And I can’t even phantom how to juggle my day job and an ecommerce business. It be like, having 3 masters:
• Wife and Kids ❤️
• That fucking Boss 💩
• That [Insert Adverb] Client [Insert Emoji].
So, to give you’all the hard truth, we’re a Slave to the “Laws Of Probability”.
And that calculating and PLANNING is good… it’s actually good. I’m not gonna knock on it… EVER.
BUT…
As an Old and Wise Poet once said:
“Life’s a Journey, not a Destination”
[Note: Lyrics from Aerosimth’s song “Amazing”. And… YEAH! Fucking Aerosimth Coined that! Don’t care what source anyone of you’ll throw at me! I’ll believe that till the end! 😂]
To Answer that question though, I’ll try to hone my Skills (I’m a Bear Hunter by day and NightClub Bouncer 😉) and keep on honing them for I know that the more I become skillful at a “Craft”, the higher the probability I’ll be employed (Will receive money in exchange for a Product or service).
And IF I do manage to acquire sufficient resources that is needed, then HOPEFULLY, I will execute my plan of Leveraging People’s Skills, Talent Hardwork and Loyalty to my benefit…
Or to rephrase to sound less “Douchy”:
To be in a position where I will be able to be in charge of a Team that will coordinate their knowledge and effort to work toward a Definite Purpose.
Ps. To be completely honest, this “Where Do You See Yourself 5 Years From Now?” question scares the shit out of me.
Oh dang Axle, you’re taking a kinda dark look at this question.
It might be useful to put aside the DOWNSIDES of what can happen in 5 years, and concentrate more on the small steps you can take every year to reach a goal.
Like maybe “I want a paid off $300,000 house and $30,000 car.” Then focus on how to gain that income or savings in 5 years.
Try to avoid thinking of the negative outcomes as much!!
appreciate the honesty.
life is going to happen.
but the meaning you ascribe to these events.is what steers the ship.
all the best
True dat :)
I have just started building my business, which specialises in ui, ux and front end dev. I am starting to learn the procurement processes for big business and government. In 5 years i will have a business built on large tenders (large for me is a 150k+ contract), this is a niche where I’m only competing with other small businesses because these tenders are not worth the time and effort of big consultants.
Having this base of well paid contracts i will leverage the skills and money of my business to build digital art installations and other creative projects.
Oh nice, seems like you have a good plan :)
I remember a long time ago going to city council meetings to see if I could win web design contracts, and was surprised at how that whole bidding system works.
I know some family friends who have extremely lucrative businesses going after those government contracts.
Basically, I want to (5 years from today) be Leveraging other people’s skills, talent and hardwork to my benifit.
Yeah… sounds “Douchy” right?
So let me rephrase that…
I want to be in a position where I will be able to be in charge of a Team that will coordinate their knowledge and effort to work toward a Definite Purpose.
Ps. Guess what that I mean by “Definite Purpose”.
Hey Axle, great goal, but you need to plan out how you’ll get there…..and in the beginning YOU will probably being doing much of the work!
Obviously everyone wants to “sit back and make money while everyone else does the work” but that happens only for very few people, and only after a long time.
Also the people that have this luxury are usually the type of people who NEVER want to “sit back and do nothing.” They tend to enjoy working and NEED to work.
Just make sure you’re realistic with these goals and plot out how you’ll do it!
Grow my current info product business from making a good living for myself to where there is a team in place that takes care of 75% of the work.
My other time will be spent on running a different business with lower revenue potential but a lot higher social value in the food/agriculture space.
Sup Big D!
If you get your income taken care of and then work on what you really love to do that would be awesome. Generally what you really love to do also has a higher potential of become a big business since you’re genuinely willing to invest a lot of effort/money into it.
Best of luck completing the goal in 5 years, start mapping it out!
1 Year : Make some dough online.
5 Years : Make enough to replace my day job salary.
10 Years : Invest in real estate.
Life : Acquire enough revenue generating assets so my family can live comfortably for eternity.
Boom !
Nice 10 year Plan NHM :)
My plan in the next 5 years:
Put all my money from the sale of my company into retirement savings. Live below my means and purchase a duplex so that I can rent out one side and live in the other. With the income from my other rentals, my living expenses will be covered. I will then work on making my other businesses as automated as possible so I can work on other projects as I see fit.
Overall my goal is to spend money on things I enjoy and reduce expenses in other spots so I can enjoy the freedom of working for myself.
That actually sounds like a super solid plan :)
I’m not big into property right now, but it seems duplex-life is the best. Your neighbors are much better because they know Mr. LandLord lives next door, you can quickly solve problems, and your neighbors basically pay off your mortgage :)
Nice plan!
Improve my copywriting skills and become a fully fledged freelance copywriter. Maybe take consulting jobs but I want to master copywriting as part of marketing skill first.
Oh very nice Eddy.
One suggestion: The way to accelerate any freelance career is to be associated with some big names first.
So for example if you worked for Facebook in marketing or something, your value would be much higher in the freelance world than if you only worked for no-name clients.
This is kind of like “resume-building” for freelancers.
Ideally quitting my corporate jobs in the next 12-24 months and managing my own business making 500k per year within 5 years.
Interesting….what if at your corporate job you made $500,000/yr? Would that change anything?
A lot of people assume I think jobs suck, butI’m a huge fan of GOOD JOBS.
https://copywritingcourse.com/get-a-job-vs-start-a-business/
…..I think starting a business is awesome also, but I know many people who work for great companies who make a ton of money PLUS have the security of a larger company.
Work as a freelance consultant in marketing and strategic management. Have a diversified portfolio of clients and earn well enough to see my loved ones happy, and their needs all met.
I’m hoping something like 500K USD a year minimum.
Very cool Kelly! You should map out a solid 5 year plan of how you can make that happen.
I see myself on the Forbes list.
Nice! Well, it depends which Forbes list:
The Forbes List of Most Wanted Criminals??? 😛
Well, right now, I am broke, unemployed, in the process of divorce and living with my mother, so I have no way to go but up. In five years, I will own a house, I will be financially independent and debt free and preparing for early retirement and travel.
I am not sitting on my ass and letting everything fall apart. See you at the top of the mountain.
Whoa….sounds like you’ve got some work to do John….fortunately 5 years is a lot of time!
Hope you have a nice plan in place with long-term and short-term goals to complete this. Best of luck on the climb back up :)
I tell you in five years. Bye!
Seriously, quit my job and have my own thriving online personal coaching business forevaahhh!! ! 😊
Hahahaha, do you have a solid plan in place for it Thom?? Five years is a LONG TIME! You can acquire a lot of skills in that amount of time.
Thriving Self-Published Author.
Do it! Do you have a solid date like I recommended to Gary?
I self-published a book a while ago, and it was incredibly rewarding and a shockingly simple process thanks to CreateSpace and Amazon:
https://copywritingcourse.com/how-to-self-publish-a-book/
Complete my masters in Emergency Medicine, get a license and work as a specialist 3 times a week. Along the road write several of feature/pilot screenplays that I’ll sell for production and wait until they’ll make it till the big screen.
That would be sweet.
Cheers
and thank you for kickass motivation and spirit Neville
Great plan Gary! One suggestion I learned from Neil Strauss is to ALWAYS HAVE A HARD PENCIL-DOWN DEADLINE for any book (or screenplay) you plan to write.
This is the ONLY way it’ll ever get done! Best of luck….lemme know your first deadline :)
Deadline is 5 years from now!
Also, would be nice to hear it out from you, what are your plans for the next 5 years, Neville?
Respond to this comment in 5 years 😛
Not 100% sure on my 5 year plan. I’ve written things down that seem cool, and likely to happen, but I’m not totally sold that I’ve nailed it yet.
Develop a digital nomad skill set that allows me to help small businesses from around the world. Then get back to a global tech startup and do something that benefits society while still be able to pay the bills and still maintaining a consulting/freelance work for small businesses
Oh wow, that’s pretty specific Dennis! What skills are you looking to do remotely?
I’d say either: WordPress design, copywriting, programming etc could be good matches for remote work.
Sorry for the grammar and spelling mistakes huhu
But thanks for asking Mr. Medhora, but yes copywriting is there, I am currently studying digital marketing specifically PPC for Google and Facebook, social media, email, SEO but I need to be more sophisticated in that, I oddly enough have some Squarespace web design, content marketing with emphasis on SEO Content Writing.
I am a little all over the place but I am banking on the fact that I am lucky to have not as much responsibilities and just focus on this. I eventually want and have researched courses on WordPress development and website building design with a focus on UX and UI and maybe a bit Graphic but to the extent that Canva, Stencil and Crello can teach me and maybe the Adobe stuff and programming more on hopefully full stack but it’s looking like a focus on front end stuff so React JS. Maybe data science also but I know I have to be patient with all of this and as much as I have a plan, I know Philosopher Tyson’s words on Plans so yeah haha
Be a bit of a Swiss army knife of skills of sorts so I can have a quality of life for me, family and maybe the future lady but also be able to go back to working with tech startups making a difference and occasionally freelancing/consulting with small businesses in general because small businesses helped provide for meover here in the Philippines when I was growing up so it’s me giving back while also being back with tech starttups.
Sorry typos and clarifications again,
I study digital marketing stuff while practicing while practicing them with local small businesses here. I am lucky to already have clients which is pretty cool
I eventually want and have researched courses on WordPress development and website building, design with a focus on UX….. (I forgot the comma)
Some sort of exit of my e-commerce and software business, not figured out the detail yet!
I’d then maybe look at consulting for those looking to do what I’ve done..
Oh nice, I’d recommend the book Built to Sell, it’s a great (and easily explained) method of getting your business sell-worthy!
I recently re-read it and took notes here:
https://www.nevblog.com/built-to-sell-notes/
Awesome notes thanks Neville!
I listened to that book on Audible on a recent trip here in the UK.
Loved the simplicity of how they scaled back to only doing logo design and still grew.
Another worthy read/listen is the E Myth if you’ve not done that already.
Hmmm….you’ll like the 1,000th person to recommend Emyth. I might have to pick this up as my next book :)
In 5 years, I’m able to grow our sales and scale my graphic design agency and to improve my copywriting skills so that I can write / re-write the sales copy on our website. Possibly to accept copywriting projects as well.
Oh nice Ed! Have you seen graphic design models like DesignPickle.com? I have mixed feelings about that monthly model, but it does seem interesting.
There’s a lot of agencies moving to that model like listed here: https://servicelist.io
If you ever need help with any copywriting stuff, remember that in the Office Hours we do everyone gets personalized time with me over the course of 6 months!
Best of luck Ed :)