MY 10 YEAR PLAN (AND HOW TO VISUALISE & CREATE YOUR DREAM LIFE)

Why put off something which you can do or action in your future plans, today? Why not make the most out of every moment and every opportunity by being more efficient and ambitious with your time? Why not set a clear path for your dream life, put these on pen to paper to turn those dreams into reality? Ok, does this all sound a bit too much? Bear with me and continue to read if you want to find out how I personally found a middle-ground on navigating myself from where I am – to where I want to be in 10 years…

I used to be really (really) good at planning. Frequently setting concrete goals and lists of achievements that I wanted to reach by a certain time. But then life gets in the way. And things have certainly changed a lot since my organised university days, when I was so on-top-of everything. In the more recent years, where life and work has got busier then I ever could imagine, my organisation skills have definitely been on a decline. I stopped using an actual paper diary, solely relying on my phone (not a good start), and each day just seems to be another day catching up on yet another ever-growing to-do list. Sounds familiar anyone? By the way – that´s not to say that I´m not still pretty organised and know what I am doing/where I am going on a day-today basis. I´m just lacking the time to actually get it all down on paper (this is key), and setting aside real time to make every single thing happen.

There is no doubt that this has a lot to do with the rise of social media, networking and being digitally connected 24/7… The masses of opportunities have risen, and our appetite is never satisfied; constantly wanting and needing more, more, more. So, naturally, things have gone a bit crazy, and I am sure I am not the only one playing a bit of catch up.

But now, life has taken another turn for me, with a baby on its way (only 14 weeks to go guys!) – so everything is going to get a whole lot busier, but in a completely different, crazy way. As its my first baby and first experience with anything like this, I have no idea how it´s all going to pan out, but naturally, I am so excited for this next chapter of my life. And I also have a feeling that as much as things will be busy in some ways; I will naturally have to slow down on other elements such as full-time work, e-mails and constant social media updates (for the time being, anyways).

So before our baby boy joins us this Autumn, I started thinking how I perhaps could actually get a bit organised pre-baby – and start setting some real goals and achievements for the next few years (before I completely loose myself in that bundle of joy). I also thought it would be pretty special and important to list down things that I do still want to do in life (as there´s a lot) – and to keep this as a reminder for the next decade. Who knows how things will actually pan out in the end? A lot can change in 10 years, but at least penning it down on paper, will serve as some kind of guidance.

So let´s do this!

MY 10 YEAR PLAN 

For this blog post, I teamed up with stationary brand kikki.K – who have subsequently released ‘The Time is Now’ range – a collection of stationery, journals, planners and accessories dedicated to helping you make the most of every moment by being more efficient with your time (in other words – just what I am needing right now!). For my 10 year plan, I used their 10 Year Plan Book (along with lots of other useful tools) – which has been cleverly designed to really help visualise and guide you to create that your dream life of yours. 

* STEP-BY-STEP ACTION *

There´s no doubt about it, there is something incredibly powerful about writing down your goals and dreams. As when you do, you subconsciously start to make decisions and open yourself up to opportunities that can really help you achieve them.

1. The kikki.K 10 Year Plan journal starts off by exploring and really looking at your core values in life, and what really makes you happy. These will help guide you in setting your goals (and serve as a reminder to enjoy the journey along the way).
2. Then, you move into actually visualising your life in 10 years. This is a very important part in enabling you to really create those long-term goal settings. By actually visualising something happening in the future, will again, spur you onto actually going out and doing those things, and living those dreams.
3. The plan will also really ask you questions, such as Where are you? Who are you with? How do you feel? Drot all of this down in your Inspiration and ideas pages, before moving onto the clear goal settings within the different areas of your life: personal, career, health & finances.
4. Once you’re pretty clear on what each area of your life will look like in 10 years from now, start working backwards to break down these larger goals into smaller, more manageable goals. This is when you can set yourself a plan for what needs to happen every year over the next 10 years and start working towards your vision.
5. Finally, continue to keep track on your goals throughout each year, and at any point, stop up and reflect on your progress and journey (don´t shy away from rewarding yourself for each goal achieved!). 

Creating a 10 year plan can be pretty overwhelming and daunting (to say the least!). But having some kind of guidance along the way, such as this journal (or any other helpful tool you might already be using) – can really help you break it down into step-by-step goals, giving you a real sense of purpose and mapping out a clear path to take (and has personally been a total life saver for me – not to mention, what motivated me in the first place). Granted, this method might not be for everyone – so just find what works for you, in whatever shape or form!

* A SUMMARY OF MY 10 YEAR PLAN *

This blog post would be way too long if I decided to share a full and detailed insight into my 10 year plan in it´s entirety (not to mention, not so relevant for everyone!) – so I have briefly summarised a little overview of my core values and concrete goals with timelines for the next decade…

My Core Values
The things that are most important to me… 

Family. Good health. Safety. Being my own boss. Exploring the world. Realising my dreams.

My Long-Term Goals & Achievements
An overview of the things I want to achieve within the next decade (across personal, career, health & finances)… 

Year 1 to 5
Embrace motherhood and everything which comes with it. Continue to expand my blog, moving into new avenues/ventures/categories. Buy our dream summer house abroad. Launch my own brand and fully embrace this. Expand the family. Move further out of London into a detached house. Renovate, design and project manage two more properties. Take a nutritionist course. Become a certified yoga teacher.
Year 5 to 10
Move to another country (perhaps back home to Norway). Building and expanding our property portfolio. Continue working and growing my brand. Dedicating real time to family and health. Synergising and creating a work/life balance which works for the whole family. Travel and explore the world with the brood. Stay close with our loved ones at home.

Created in collaboration with kikki.K. All words, opinions, styling & creative direction are, as always, my own.