Five Year Plan

This is from my horoscope today:

"Solitude appeals, in part because of asinine behavior by some of your colleagues. Put things into perspective by creating or re-creating a five-year plan, and doing at least one thing to make it happen today."

I have been thinking about this a lot since I read it this morning. I don't have a five year plan. So I suppose that the first step would be to make one. So, I have been researching that a bit today. I found this website -
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/planning_your_future
which has some useful information, including this guide:

"

he Template:

1. Your Name
2. Today’s Date
   This is important as you reflect back on this document. This will become a touchstone for your growth and a reminder of who you were as you look back at what was important to you in this point in time.
3. 3–6 Months
   
   • Start small.
   • Think about short-term goals that are easily achieved but will also help move you towards the longer-term goals.
   • Include some tangible goals (i.e., ship a product that I acted as lead designer for).
4. 6–12 Months
   
   • Start thinking bigger here—this is planning for a year out.
   • What new skills do you want to learn?
   • What new ideas do you want to share with others?
   • What changes do you want to make? Put them down here along with the steps needed to take to make them happen.
5. Beyond 12 Months
   
   • Capture specific plans that you know may take more than a year to get to or accomplish. For me, it was to work on my Dr. Leslie book. I discussed the idea with a writing partner 3 years ago, but it is only now coming to fruition with an actual proposal in hand and a potential publisher.
   • Be realistic but not afraid to reach. Visualize success in areas you may have little control over. Don’t be afraid to write down a desired goal that may be a stretch.
6. Longer-term Goals
   
   • This is the area to think out for the next 3–5 years, including life beyond the company or situation you are currently in. For me, I listed “teaching again” as a goal. This reminds me that I want to do this and I need to make certain decisions and changes in order to make it happen.
     
     If I decide at a later time, that I don’t really want to do this, I should remove it off the plan.
7. Opportunities to Explore at Your Company
   
   • List all the training and coaching opportunities relevant and currently available at your company.
   • Note relationships that need to be cultivated at your company in order to meet success.
     

     Note: This obviously may not apply if you are an independent consultant. Think about other opportunities that might be available through professional associations and networking instead.

8. Skills to Develop
   
   • Project what skills you need to develop to reach the goals you listed in the first part of this exercise.
   • What other skills do you need, besides the ones you have now, to attain your goal?

     Since I am a manager and this is the area in which I have been growing, I listed things such as Confidence and Effectiveness—along with ideas on how to master these more intangible skills.

     Over the last couple of years, I have purposely put myself into situations to gain confidence—especially when giving presentations. Think about starting slow and building on your successes.

     In addition, I also listed skills of associated/allied roles that I would like to learn in order to make myself a more well-rounded and effective manager in my company.
9. What I Care About in a Work Environment
   
   • This may seem frivolous or not important to the task at hand, but it serves to remind you of the values you need to share with the company you work for. As you grow or the company changes this can help guide you when you need to make a change.
10. Personal Goals
    Don’t forget the personal goals that you need to weave into your life. It never hurts to write these down as a reminder of work/life balance and of the things that are really important to you as a person. "

As you can see, this is going to have to be adapted for me. That will take a bit of work. But, it really does seem like a good outline so I am going to save it, even though I am not done researching this.