Who do you want to be in the next five years?

"Who do you want to be in the next five years?"

"What is your dream job?"

These are questions that you might be asked when applying for a job or internship, discussing an upcoming career move, or exploring potential college majors. But they can be difficult to answer because they're so broad and open-ended. And if we plan everything out too much, we may miss out on opportunities that come our way unexpectedly. So how do we strike the right balance between planning ahead and being open to new possibilities? Read on to find out...

You should be specific. You want to make sure that you really know what you want and why. If a person is vague about their future, it might mean that they don't know where they're going or what they want to do with their life, which could make them more likely to quit in the future if things get tough.

You should be realistic. It's important to have goals that are achievable and reasonable. Aiming too high can lead to disappointment, especially if your plan requires skills or knowledge that you don't yet have or doesn't align with who you truly are (e.g., becoming an astronaut when you hate heights).

You should be flexible in your approach and open-minded about new opportunities (even ones outside your original vision). If things change along the way—and most likely they will!—make sure you've got contingency plans at hand so as not to get derailed by surprises along the way...and set yourself up for success by finding mentors who'll help guide them through challenges ahead as well as celebrate milestones achieved along the way."

Be smart about it.

It's a question that can be intimidating to answer—who do you want to be in the next five years?

But, it shouldn't be. The reason why this question is so interesting and helpful is that it forces you to think about where your life will be in another five years, which is something that rarely happens during the daily grind of work and home life. And when we think about our future selves, there are a few things we should keep in mind:

- Be realistic about what's possible and what isn't

- Be open to change (and new opportunities)

Write it down.

As you answer this question, write it down. Don't just think about it. Write down the things that you want to be doing in five years and the things that you want to achieve, have, or be. If your goal is to have your own business by then, write that down!

Once you've written everything down, look over all of those goals again and see if any are more important than others. Hopefully, some of them will resonate with something deep inside of you—that's a good sign!

Reflect on what truly matters.

When you reflect on what truly matters to you, you'll have a much better chance of answering this question in a way that will make sense and be relevant for the next five years.

If you don't know what your values are yet, think about who you admire and why. What do they value? How does this inform their decisions? What things do they care about?

Remember that your values will change over time—what mattered to me at 21 might not matter as much now—but if the things that matter most to you stay consistent with who you are, then they're probably worth keeping in mind when answering questions like "Who do I want to be in 5 years?"

Refuse to make a plan based on societal expectations.

In a world of 9-to-5s, it’s easy to set your goals based on what other people expect from you. But that’s the wrong way to approach things. What would happen if you decided to build a career around the things that make you happy?

What if you pursued those dreams instead of listening to other people who say “no one wants to hire someone who is always sick?” Or “you have no experience in this field so why should anyone invest time training you when they could just bring in someone with more experience?” Or “it might be good for your resume but it won't get you anywhere fast so why don't we focus on something more practical like law school or business school?"

Focus on the kind of person you want to be.

The first step to answering this question is to think about the kind of person you want to be in five years. Not just what type of job or career path, but how do you want other people to perceive and interact with you?

Do you want to be the type of individual who is open-minded and willing to listen? Do you want others to see that one of your strengths is being able to solve problems creatively? Do you hope that at some point in your life, people will look up to the way that they have modeled their lives after yours?

Alternatively, do you envision yourself as someone who is confident in themselves and able to share their opinions without fear of judgement from others (or even their own self-doubt)?

Or are there areas where it would benefit both yourself and others if there was some improvement needed on your part: for example being more assertive or courageous when making decisions about certain aspects of your life; or perhaps taking a stand against injustice happening around us all too often these days.

Don't get too hung up on specific goals.

The answer to this question isn't a new job title or income level. It's not an impressive resume or an impressive list of accomplishments. It's not any one thing at all.

Instead, think about the general direction in which you'd like your life to go, and then think about what it would take for you to get there—and that's the answer! Having a general direction is the most important part of planning for our future, because when we don't know where we're headed, how can we possibly get there? The best way to begin answering this question is by thinking about what kind of person you want to be in five years...or 10...or 15...

This isn't just some lighthearted thought experiment or fun exercise! Your vision will guide your future self and give meaning and purpose to everything else that comes after it; so start with something big: "I'm going on vacation every year," "I travel internationally," "I have my own business."

Make sure your goals revolve around what you are passionate about.

The most important thing is to make sure that your goal revolves around what you’re passionate about. For example, if you are a graphic designer and really love designing logos, then it would be a good idea to start taking steps toward becoming an entrepreneur or freelancer.

This can be done by starting small. If you want to become an entrepreneur or freelancer, there is no need for you to quit your job right away. Start by working on side projects in the evenings and weekends while still maintaining your day job.

Once these side projects start earning some revenue for yourself, think about reducing your hours at work so that in time, you can work on these side projects full time and eventually have enough income from them so that they become self-sustaining businesses with no need for further financial assistance from others like family members or friends (unless of course, they are willing).

Create opportunities for yourself, but don't force them.

It's important to create opportunities for yourself, but don't force them. For example, if you want to be a professional dancer in five years, don't keep an eye on the ballet performance schedule or sign up with every dance studio in your area. That sounds like it would work out well—but what if you got hurt? What if you didn’t like it? Creating opportunities requires some flexibility!

In my experience as a writer and consultant, I've found that it's best not to get too hung up on specific goals or expectations of what "success" looks like. Instead, focus on the kind of person you want to be: someone who loves their job and gets fulfillment from working hard each day; someone who inspires others because they're so passionate about their work; someone who encourages others by being an example of excellence at their job. This will help guide your decisions about where and how much effort goes into pursuing each opportunity that comes along (and also makes life easier because then there's less pressure).

You can't fully plan your life because life is like a blank canvas and it's up to you to paint your own picture so don't over-plan everything and try to let things happen naturally

There are so many things that we can't predict or plan for in life, and the best thing to do is to let them happen naturally. Maybe you'll be able to predict a few things, but mostly if you try too hard to plan everything ahead of time then it will just stress you out and make life much more difficult for you.

Conclusion

In the end, it comes down to this: you have a choice. You can either sit around and wait for something good to happen to you, or you can go out there and make something good happen. It's up to you!