Building a 10 Year Personal Plan

When clients come to me for tax planning and wealth management advice, I always begin conversations by asking “Do you know the importance of Building a 10 Year Personal Plan?” The vision someone holds for the future dictates the financial, career, education, relationship, and health goals they must work towards. Yet few people actually have clarity on what they want their lives to ideally look like a decade out.

Without consciously designing your future, life unfolds randomly. Days slip into weeks, into months and years governed more by external events than internal choices. Before you know it, a decade passed without purposeful direction.

As a tax professional and financial advisor for over 30 years now, I guide clients through an intentional process of “reverse goal-setting” to build customized 10 year life plans. By beginning with the end vision before reverse engineering yearly milestones, I empower individuals and families to strategically build the lives they aspire towards.

In this article, I will walk through the key components that make up an impactful 10 year plan across the 5 core areas of Money, Career, Relationships, Health, and Personal Growth.

Money Goals: Your 10 Year Financial Vision

Managing money wisely through proactive tax planning, investing, protection strategies and purposeful spending allows you to live life on your own terms. Yet few people have clarity on their short and long-term financial visions which makes it impossible to effectively bridge the gap.

I coach clients to describe a compelling 10 year financial future across 3 key domains:

Retirement Life Vision: Paint a vivid picture of your desired retirement lifestyle - where you live, activities, interests, family time, travel that brings joy and meaning. Defining your ideal retirement situation grounds the intermediate money goals to fund it.

Wealth Goals: Set specific financial targets you desire to accumulate over the next decade - net worth, portfolio size, assets/ real estate. Establish the wealth needed to afford the lifestyle and legacy you envision.

Income Milestones: Outline your ideal annual earnings/business revenue 10 years from today. Ambitious income goals drive career advancement, business growth, and investment decisions that facilitate financial freedom.

With the long-term money situation described, we reverse calculate the necessary saving and investing to reach the targets. We also design tax and cash flow strategies to accelerate wealth building while mitigating taxes owed. Keeping your 10 year financial North Star at the forefront daily focuses decisions to stay on path towards your true definition of prosperity.

Career Trajectory Over The Next Decade

For ambitious professionals, a well-mapped career strategy oils momentum towards landing your dream job or launching a meaningful business in 10 years time. On the flip side, lack of career direction breeds stagnation and hopping between unfulfilling jobs.

Through close introspection on what they wish to achieve, I urge clients to define their 10 year career vision by asking key questions:

• What level of position/leadership brings the highest contribution and joy?

• Does your dream career path necessitate shifting companies, industries or geography?

• If pursuing entrepreneurship, what does your ideal business look like in a decade?

• What milestone revenue, team size, and customer impact is reachable in 10 years?

Again, envision the aspirational career endpoint vividly first. Perfect clarity on your “future work-self” makes the incremental progress required each year evident to propel your professional life there.

With an ambitious but realistic career target dated for 10 years out, we reverse engineer the steps back to today:

• What capabilities and networks must I build yearly?

• How should I gain domain expertise to be an industry leader?

• What roles or projects serve as stepping stones along the journey?

Finally, ensure your annual career goals align to progress you towards the well-defined ten year milestone. Review and refine plans quarterly to stay on trajectory.

Seed Your Ideal Relationships & Family Life

Humans thrive through meaningful connection with others yet relationships happen haphazardly unless intentional. Without clarity on your ideal social and family life 10 years forward, poor partnerships derail your journey.

I coach clients to vividly define relationship success based on:

Spouse & Children: Clearly articulate your desire to be married or single with kids in a decade. Identify positive qualities in a life partner that serve your shared growth. Define hopes for what your children and family structure looks like.

Friendships: Envision the core circle of high integrity, inspiring friends and mentors who elevate you. Describe weekly/ monthly routines that nurture bonds and align on values.

Community Roles: Are you an active member of social causes, spiritual groups, or associations where you contribute? Detail the leadership duties and change created that fulfills you.

The exercise of writing out your future relationship situation grounds your daily choices in partners, friends, associates and groups to invite in. To manifest this future reality, seed supportive relationships now while weeding out misaligned ones with clear boundaries. Revisit your description often to refine understanding of what thriving connections require.

Design Your Health & Vitality Trajectory

Health spans the physical, mental and emotional realms - the energy fueling everything you wish to experience. Yet without disciplined self-care built into life patterns, chronic disease, burnout and depression gradually take hold.

Begin crafting your 10 year health plan by asking:

• How do I envision my energy, physique and vitality in a decade daily?

• What bio-markers like weight, cholesterol, blood pressure define ideal health?

• What preventative actions preserve wellness as I age?

Next, spotlight any genetic predispositions where proactively mastering lifestyle factors can override disease expression - heart health, cancer risks, mental health etc. Committing to the outcome of lifelong health prevents minor issues compounding over years into crises.

Finally, I guide clients to put the future trajectory into motion using these best practices:

• Systemize nutrition, fitness, sleep, stress relief into your schedule

• Undergo regular screenings and address issues early

• Surround yourself with health-minded friends and practitioners

The compound impact of small daily choices builds into radical health transformation over years. With clarity on what “well” looks and feels like 10 years forward, align all actions to get you there.

Design Your Personal Growth Plan

We spend much time planning finances, careers and relationships while forgetting to intentionally grow ourselves. Without a personal development vision for the next decade, you risk waking up years later at the exact same level of inner maturity.

I coach clients to carve out time annually evaluating current life priorities against their deepest values and what they wish to experience before dying. Tough questions reveal how to spend upcoming years in alignment with your authentic self:

• What knowledge, wisdom or legacy do I want to carry from this life?

• What causes or communities call me to contribute to their growth?

• What adventures, places or cultures expand my perspective on what is possible?

• What gifts, talents and voice must I cultivate to meet my highest potential?

Describe your future wise elder self after a decade more of reflective living, contribution, bonding deeply and following your inner wisdom. Manifest this version of you through committing to personal growth systems from coaching to meditation to serving others.

The Journey Begins Where You Are

While the 10 year planning process holds exciting possibilities, clients often feel overwhelmed trying to bridge the gap between their challenging present realities and ambitious future visions across all life domains.

I remind them progress manifests through consistent small steps compounding daily towards the visualized endpoints. Build momentum by choosing just 1-3 key goals per domain this year to set you heading towards your 10 year targets. Stay focused on these intentions without distraction.

The only way to predict and shape your desired future is to start building it today. Embrace the journey, course correct along the way and enjoy the compound impact of living each moment purposefully. By repeatedly clarifying your short and long term intentions, you design your life proactively versus leaving it to chance.

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