5 year plan, right?

To hell with Generation X… let’s try Generation Wealth. Black Generational Wealth, that is.

Now, let’s not get defensive and all in our feelings. Let’s talk reality. Facts. You need a five year plan..now!

So I don’t care how much money you spent on Jordans IN THE PAST ! Nor how many designer bags you have from BEFORE . I don’t want to talk about the fruits of wealth versus the simulation of status. We could talk about those things all day. However, that’s not what we are here for. We are here to secure wealth.

True wealth can’t be measured by your yearly gross income because jobs can be lost. Health can deteriorate and make you unable to work. People will say to work hard, or to follow your dreams or to have faith and never give up. All these things are necessary but they mean nothing without the instruction booklet. That’s why you need to focus on creating the best investment plan for 5 years.

Plan or fail!

So why are we here? Mainly, to explore the many different ways to monetize skills, create passive income, and create black generational wealth. It’s always roses for someone who already has thousands or more to invest in their future and can jumpstart a legacy from step six.

But what about the guy or girl who works at WalMart? Makes minimum wage and spends every cent on survival? Yes you have to want it…BADLY!!! But also, you have to know how to get it. And that’s where the 5 year plan comes in.

What is a five year plan

It’s a roadmap for your life. And something written down that tells you what you need to be doing to get where you want to be. If you told me, you wanted to become a world famous opera singer, I wouldn’t tell you to start by hanging out in front of an opera house with your resume, especially if you had never sung in public before.

My approach would be to tell you to get a paper and a pen. Or, since it’s not 1983, grab your tablet or cellphone. Then what? Well, you can’t get famous for something unless you have the skill, and have the exposure. So, while step 103 might be to make a list of potential talent agents that could represent you, step 1 is completely different.

I would tell you that step 1 would be to find a place in your area that will give you vocal lessons. The five year plan helps you recognize what steps you need to take so that you are never at a loss for what comes next. I’m not making this up. Even CNN will agree. You can check out their take here.

But mostly, developing a five year plan and writing it down, makes sure that you will subconsciously begin doing the steps it takes to lead you to your end goal.

What to do first

First…Decide where you want to be. This isn’t’ always obvious or easy. Speak to people daily about their expectations of their future. The most popular answers you get are…”I want to be rich”. And if you ask, what they want to do, to net them that type of income, the answer is usually..”I want to do a little bit of everything, be an entrepreneur. Just as often, people say they want to be rich and have a good job.

There is nothing wrong with either aspiration, they are just incomplete. There is a skill, and passion in everyone that usually becomes the basis for their 5 year plan. An important question I believe should guide every plan is: What affect do I want to make on this world? What type of things do I want people to say about me in my eulogy? Why would my children, nieces, nephews, etc be proud to know me and look up to me? Got your answers? Now it’s time to make your 5 year plan.

Creating a 5 year plan

So what does your life look like in 5 years? Financially, Spiritually, health wise, relationship wise, community…in these major facets of your life, where do you want to be.

After you define that 5 year goal in every category, then you work your way backwards. And depending on how intricately your plan is developed, you could define your 4, 3, and 2 year goals in those same categories. But many just go to the 1 year goals.

The important thing to ask yourself when you are defining your one year goals, “What has to happen by this time next year to make sure that my 5 year plan is attainable. How about 6 months, then 3 months. What about 1 month, then 2 weeks from now. Next week. Tomorrow. Right now!

I even did a 5 year plan case study

As you work your way through the plan, the plan becomes less of a goal list and more of a to-do list. And that’s what a goal is, a set of actions that lead to a desired result. I found a helpful workbook that gives you space to explore and develop your plan. Check it out here if you want.

My cousin braids hair. I’m talking immaculate, beautiful designs that belong on a magazine cover. After seeing a post on her social media about how she was struggling and working 2 jobs to make ends meet, I created a 5 year plan for her. I titled it, Braid your way to a $1,000,000. She said she would read it, but reading it isn’t enough.

Having a plan is only one part of the process. Action has to be taken. 95% of people won’t make the plan. And out of the 5% that do, 95% of them won’t take the actions. And that, is why we have a surplus of people who need jobs, but not a surplus of millionaires.

Make the steps part of your routine

Be consistent! I don’t care if you can only take one step a day towards your goal. Take that step. If it has to be a 10 year plan, or a 20 year plan, so be it. The important thing is that you take action every…single…day.

Don’t focus on the end goal. I know it sounds counter-productive, but it’s true. When you wake up in the morning and brush your teeth and take a shower, you don’t do it thinking about how it gets you closer to the day being over. You’ve developed a routine of actions that create a sense of well-being in your life.

Make steps in your plan a part of that routine. If you need to send out 20 emails a day to get to your goal, then make that part of your daily routine. Not with the idea that this is part of your end goal, but with the knowledge that this is just “what you do”.

The same thing that happens with exercising everyday after a certain activity, is the same thing that will happen here. Do it enough times, and your day will feel incomplete without it.

You will unconsciously find yourself starting certain actions, simply because that’s “what you do”.

Don’t try to be a superhero

We all have a tendency to bite off more than we can chew. And it’s no different with a 5 year plan. If, for example, you want to become a best selling author. Approach it from a practical perspective.

Yes, you can pull that partially completed novel out of your closet and finish it and hope it sells. But that’s not likely. A good 5 year plan would entail that you first find out whether there is a market for that genre and topic.

So you would write a 5 year plan surrounding that goal! Include the process for figuring out what to write and who you are writing it for (target audience).

Then, figure out your marketing for the book. Will you create a book club, long before the book is started so that you can introduce the book into the group after it’s published? Maybe you start a facebook page or website on the topic of the book to build interest. Will you save up money for paid advertisement?

Once, you figure out what to write and how to sell it. Then you create your writing schedule and stick to it.

After the 5 years is up?

Once the first five year plan is up…make another five year plan. Whether you accomplished everything in that first 5 years, or only one thing. I guarantee , if you even took only 1 step a day towards completing that plan, you would be closer to your goal than ever before. And don’t forget to fashion your plan towards a larger goal. You can check out my article where I talk about the importance of creating generational wealth.

Never forget that plans change and evolve with life. But as long as you are continuously moving forward, new opportunities will arise, new goals will form, and success will eventually come. So the real question is…where do you see yourself in 5 years, in 10, in 20? Finally, how do you plan to get there?