It's Time to Review Your 5-Year Plan

Khan, my housemate asked me, “Alex, what’s your 5-Year Plan? Do you have the same job? What about a family of your own?”

Wow.

It had been months since I looked at my Long-Term goals. I wasn’t sure what to say anymore. The pandemic didn’t affect my major goals, but it did affect my motivation to reflect on those goals.

Reader, I’m sure you felt the same way when our world changed. My consumption habits changed, my saving potential soared, but it was easier than ever to spend needlessly.

“In a time when there was seemingly nothing to do, I never ‘found’ any time whatsoever to work towards my Long-Term Goals.”

At Appreciating Interest, we have never “found” time to do anything we didn’t inherently want to do in the moment. This is the problem with Long-Term goals: they are easy enough to plan for, but following through with the daily grind is difficult. Khan’s question reminded me that in order to go where I want in life, it first must be planned.

After the plan, it’s time to act.

Any action requires a first step. That first step is often symbolic, but not very difficult. If you want to buy a house, your first step should be to look at houses-determine specifics later. Inertia is a property of matter, and of habits. In order to become world-class in anything or just consistent in something, routine and focused energy are required.

(Skip to next header if you don’t want to read a personal story)

I started building this website in college. I had no real knowledge of finance beyond the books I got from my uncle. The strange thing was that I knew I had a message to share, but I felt phony. “I have no authority to be discussing anything, I don’t even have any money!” was one of the thoughts I had. “I don’t even like writing and no one will want to read your page anyway” was another. Each negative thought pressed further and further into my consciousness as the repetition and consistency perpetuated this feedback loop. So for two years I owned this domain and paid for the website as it’s pages metaphorically collected dust. Inertia that strong can be hard to stop. In late 2019, I decided to try again. I was going to do a monthly challenge (handwriting, teeth whitening, etc.) and post the results on YouTube. I knew I was building something but I was still working on my voice. What did I even want to say?

You can do it. You can dream big, just remember to plan your steps there. Reverse engineer your dream to make tomorrow the reality. I finally determined my plan, and now I can make it my reality.

My plan is 10 years, $200 million dollars. Step-by-step I have a plan to get there and a way to course correct when it’s time to rethink the strategy. How can I do that? By owning assets. What assets? Real estate and investments. What real estate? How about a huge $100 million dollar ranch. And what investments? Well, I have a portfolio, but also the investment into this. Being able to value my site will also require time and effort. Reviews are an investment. All of it combined with my determination to prove the method true will hopefully bring this to life.

In year 10, I will have the ranch valued at over $100 million, the additional properties as rental vehicles, and this site completes the valuation.

My 5-Year Plan, therefore, requires effort towards my 10-Year plan for it to occur. I know the majority of my time in Year 5 will be required to nurture this dream into reality. I will make at least 1 million dollars this year.

In year 1, I will automate my finances and focus down my debt with precision. I will take my first trip to Portugal, determining my ability to work remote internationally. I will try to adapt my messaging to reach as many people as possible in order to further my cause.

The point is not to have every step figured out today. The point is to ask yourself what you truly want your life to look like 10 years from now. Do you want a lot of money? What about a family? Where do you live? These are all good questions to ask when envisioning 5 or 10 years out. The trick is to let yourself dream, then use your head to figure out logical steps and timelines for making it happen. Sure my dream is half-baked and huge, but the title is catchy and maybe we will all be surprised! Have a great day, see ya in 10 years!