# Do you have a five year plan? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814 "2005-09-09T14:04:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/1 "2005-09-09T14:04:29Z")
I have two questions. Do you have a five year plan, in which you outline your goals and the means to achieve them? If you had a five year plan more than five years ago, how’d that work out for you? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/2 "2005-09-09T16:12:44Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Do you have a five year plan, in which you outline your goals and the means to achieve them? Yep. I’m gonna get me one o’ them Ph.D thingies. I’m also going to keep saving money, although I don’t have a strict plan for that. > [@](#): > > If you had a five year plan more than five years ago, how’d that work out for you? I did not. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/3 "2005-09-09T16:46:23Z")
I used to have a five year plan when I was in graduate school. That didn’t work out. I was without a plan for several years. Earlier this year, I started putting together another plan that I thought would work. I involved home, family, and career. My house go destroyed by a giant tree, may baby daughter died, and then my home state got destroyed. My new plan is just day-to-day survival. I am more focused on doing the best thing today rather than trying to anticipate what tomorrow may bring. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/4 "2005-09-09T16:49:39Z")
I have a two year plan which involves working in my current job and paying off my school loans. It was a three year plan a year ago, and so far I’m on track. After that, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/5 "2005-09-09T18:30:01Z")
I guess i stuck with my five year plan, and finished it in four years. When I was in 8th grade, I vowed that when I left high school I would go to a nice college and major in something interesting. Due to graduating high school in three years, I finished my first five year plan in four, and am in the third week of college at the University of Houston, am majoring in english, and have AWESOME professors. Now, I just need to somehow manage to pass my latin class… so not thinking 5 years into the future anymore. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/6 "2005-09-09T19:54:36Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Do you have a five year plan, in which you outline your goals and the means to achieve them? Yes, I do, nothing on paper stating my yearly goals, but I have one. > [@Fear Itself](#): > > If you had a five year plan more than five years ago, how’d that work out for you? It worked out very well. I am in the academic world, and am now a tenured assustant professor which translates to mediocre wages but tremendous life style and almost guaranteed job security. I have not used tenure as a full-time vacation… I am saving that for full Professor! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/7 "2005-09-09T20:05:50Z")
I don’t believe in plans. I’m in graduate school now, and I intend to finish, but it’s the first long-term plan or goal that I’ve had since finishing my undergrad degree 12 years ago. And I don’t have a certain number of years associated with the grad school thing: I’ll finish it when I finish it (within the allotted timespan, but nothing more specific). I sometimes wonder if it says something negative about me that I’m not into long-term goals (or even short-term goals, really), but it seems to be working out so far. I guess. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/8 "2005-09-09T20:17:27Z")
Nope, no five-year plan for me. No three-month plan, either. I’m pretty sound in the wishful thinking department, though. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/9 "2005-09-09T20:53:48Z")
Yup. We’re planning on retiring into poverty. We’re all a’twitter in anticipation of that. ---
**Author:** ![PinkMarabou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PinkMarabou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkMarabou)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/10 "2005-09-09T21:06:02Z")
Back when me and my hubby were dating, he said he had a “five year plan” for when we would get married. No, he did not stick to it or he would have had to start a “5 year plan” with someone else. We have bigger goals outlined over the next few years, such as him graduating from college, selling the house and building a new one, having a child. We save the more intricate ones for short-term plans. Easier to manage that way for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/11 "2005-09-09T21:56:00Z")
5 years from now I plan to have finished university, married my fiance, have a good job, and be living back in my hometown. 5 years ago I was 15. The only plan I had was to do my A-Levels, and then study journalism at university. I’ve done exactly that. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/12 "2005-09-09T22:30:19Z")
When I was in college I wrote down short- and long-term plans and updated them regularly. I didn’t accomplish very many of the things I had planned, but I still recommend planning like that, as it helps focus your concentration. The hard part is when it comes to “get hired by X” or “get job in YY field,” because sometimes those people just won’t hire you. But if one of your goals is “get degree,” that is pretty much up to you. It just kind of makes sense, that if you would really like to be a zoologist, it’s probably a good idea to get the kind of a degree that qualifies you to be a zoologist. And to work jobs that give you experience in the field. And maybe to save up for a trip somewhere exotic where you can see animals. All part of planning. I haven’t had a long-term plan for a while, because my life is currently on track and moving along swimmingly. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/13 "2005-09-09T22:46:21Z")
5 Year Plan: Not die. Yeah, that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/14 "2005-09-09T22:52:11Z")
I’m with Rand - hopefully I won’t die by then. As a senior in high school, I plan to go to one of three different schools and find a direction for life. If that doesn’t happen, which I know it won’t, I’ll just try not to mess too many things up. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/15 "2005-09-09T23:44:21Z")
Yep. I’m gonna industrialize my country. 'Course it might take more than just one five year plan to do that… What? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/16 "2005-09-09T23:55:14Z")
I have a plan… I just don’t really know how to do some of the things I want to do, and not all of the things I want are completely under my control. A lot depend on other people. Like **bluethree** said, getting a job in a certain field might not be as easy as I thought, especially when I want to pack up and work in another country, starting off on my own for the first time. I know what I _want_. I’m just not sure yet how to make it all happen. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/17 "2005-09-10T01:17:30Z")
Hopefully get into med school in this admissions cycle and graduate from med. school in five years. Hopefully I’ll be working in a semi-sane internship where I can still ride my bike 10-15 hours a week. Be happy with my decision to go to med. school and enjoy what I do with patients two days out of three. I want to be a Category 1 Road Racer. Have a girlfriend. Not be grindingly stuffed by student loans from med. school. Guess that’s pretty much it. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/18 "2005-09-10T02:21:00Z")
I sort of do. I’m definitely a planner, and have goals for things. Recently things have been “discussed” between the SO and I, which lead to the usefulness of a 5 year plan. I have vague notions right now, but nothing written or planned out. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/19 "2005-09-10T03:06:22Z")
Hell yes I have a plan. Actually it’s more a three-year plan (to time with turning thirty) and is a little bit flexible, but it’s there. Five years ago I had no goals, no prospects, and little hope that I would make anything of my life. Now I am three months away from my second college degree, and the degree I’m currently pursuing is one that I enjoy so much, I wish I’d gone for it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814/20 "2005-09-10T04:31:07Z")
Five years from now, I hope to have finished my PhD, be doing a postdoc back east, and getting ready to marry my boyfriend. Five years ago, I was 15. My plans were to finish high school, go to the University of Chicago or Tulane and study chemistry. It didn’t work out quite like I planned. Oh well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-five-year-plan/320814.md?page=2)