4 Reasons to Let Go of the 5-Year Plan and 1 Simple Question to Find Your Way Forward Instead
Medium | 17.01.2026 23:01
4 Reasons to Let Go of the 5-Year Plan and 1 Simple Question to Find Your Way Forward Instead
Take the Pressure Off: Stop Needing All the Answers or the Perfect Path
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“What’s your 5 year plan?”
If that question also triggers you, keep reading.
I’ve personally always hated the idea of having a 5-year plan.
Whenever asked, it always made me feel like I had to already have my life figured out.
And then paint this beautiful life plan to others to make sure they knew I had my sh*t figured out.
And often…my response would be what I thought my life “should” look like. What might look or sound good.
Something like,
I’ll be thriving in my career, making well over 6 figures and on track to be the CEO by 2030.
Or,
I’ll be living in a beautiful home with my husband and our dog, with our first kid on the way.
Behind this seemingly simple question lies so much pressure and complexity.
Making us think that we need to have a specific plan and stick to it.
And that if we don’t — well, then of course we’ll fall behind, become a failure, end up homeless and alone and well… probably die. (Cause yes, our mind DOES go to those extremes sometimes.)
But what if I told you we didn’t need to plan our entire life?
Or the next 5 years?
Or even this year?
What if we took the pressure off ourselves and let life naturally unfold?
Because we can.
And if you ask me — we should.
And today I’m going to share with you why. And HOW we can do this.
With one simple question that will redirect our focus from always focusing the future — back to the present moment.
But before I share all this with you, quick story.
The inspiration for why I felt inspired to write about this today came from a coaching session with a client this week.
Just a few sessions ago, he was painting the picture of this big grandiose plan for his year.
Goals, ambitious, a timeline, all of it.
Which is GREAT! And exciting to think about.
But then in our very next session — this entirely shifted.
He received some new information later that week that made him realize that this plan was already no longer entirely aligned.
It was still a part of his plan — but it wasn’t going to be what he thought it would look like.
And energetically, I could feel that continuing to force this big plan and even try to have clarity on what his year (and LIFE) would look like — felt overwhelming.
Unpredictable
Daunting.
So, we pivoted the focus.
Instead of focusing on the big picture plan and having clarity on all he wanted to accomplish this year, we asked a different question.
One simple question that ended up being the breakthrough he needed to redirect him on a path that felt aligned.
And this might be the very shift you need as well — especially if trying to figure out a bigger plan is feeling confusing or overwhelming to you right now.
So, here’s why.
Here are the 4 reasons why you don’t need a big, grandiose plan — and the ONE simple question you can ask to guide you towards alignment instead.
1. We can’t predict or control life. No matter how hard we try.
The thing about life plans — whether it be a 5-year plan, 1-year plan or even 6-month plan — they don’t take into consideration all the never-ending ways life is constantly changing.
Not to mention out of our control most of the time.
It doesn’t invite room for change. Pivoting. Redirecting. Spontaneity.
Dealing with obstacles and roadblocks when they come up, that might be telling us to change course.
We have a plan — so therefore, we must stick to this plan, right?
(WRONG!!!!)
The older I get, the more I realize that:
We can’t control life.
We can try as hard as we want.
We can bend our back time and time again to avoid any unpredictability and cling to as much stability and certainty that we can….
But life will always throw curveballs our way.
A previous more closed-minded version of me would have seen any of these obstacles and curveballs as things to just power through or avoid to then “get back on track” —
But I see things so differently now that I have more life under my belt.
The unexpected occurrences in our life are always there to guide us. Redirect us. Teach us lessons we needed to learn, reveal information we may not have known before.
They’re opportunities to reassess the path we’re on.
And often, these “obstacles” and unexpected changes in our life might be nudging us (or SCREAMING at us) to change course.
But if we have a set plan and timeline, we’re putting this pressure on ourselves to stick to — we may ignore those signs of redirection.
But redirection is NOT failure.
It’s realignment.
We’re constantly changing and evolving. And so is our life.
So, shouldn’t our path as well?
2. Tunnel vision on a set plan closes us off to even more aligned people, paths + opportunities.
Sticking to such a set plan for our life can cause us to have tunnel vision.
It can close us off to recognizing potentially better paths and opportunities.
Maybe you’re so focused on getting that promotion at your corporate job (because it’s a part of the “plan”) that you keep ignoring that desire and urge you have to be a writer and start your novel.
But instead of seeing this as a potential passion to pursue — you see it as a waste of time and distraction from the plan.
Or maybe the “plan” says you’ll marry your high school sweetheart and have 2 kids by 32.
(And that’s great, if that’s for you.)
But what if you realize years later the relationship isn’t for you. The reality is you’ve both changed so much.
Are you going to stick to the plan or open yourself up to meeting the true love of your life — even if it means pushing of the timeline of the plan a few years?
Or in my case — I could have stuck to my corporate accounting job, cause my plan in college was to take that path. Got my CPA, masters — the WHOLE thing.
But guess what, I scrapped the plan. Because I didn’t let it close me off to what I really felt called towards.
If I maintained the tunnel vision on what I thought my life would look like years ago, I wouldn’t be writing this article right now. I wouldn’t have my podcast. I wouldn’t be living the life I’m living now.
Because I gave myself permission to listen to the nudges and opportunities that were coming up.
I know now — they were there to guide me. To pull me ON course, not off course.
You’re always being guided towards true alignment.
Towards the path that’s truly meant for you.
But sticking to a plan we may have made years ago may cause us to never be open to this guidance.
So zoom out from the “plan” — just enough to give yourself permission to start listening to the nudges, people and opportunities that keep coming up in your life.
3. We’ll be far more present for the journey — instead of having tunnel vision on an end destination.
This tunnel vision on how we think things “should” be can also cause us to feel like we’re constantly chasing an end destination.
Whatever we envisioned our life to look like at the end of the 5 years, to feel like we’ve “made it”.
But this keeps our focus on the end goal. That finish line, rather than enjoying the process of just experiencing and enjoying life.
We might be so focused on achieving the long-term goals, that we lose sight of the point of this all:
To live a life that brings us joy.
Letting go of needing to be a certain place at a certain time 24/7 in life can encourage us to be more present for the unfolding of life.
To stop rushing, forcing and chasing — and instead come back to living.
4. It takes the pressure off us needing to have life “figured out”
Letting go of needing to know exactly how and when life unfolds adds SO much undue pressure and stress.
The part of us that wants to have a plan is the part of us that is looking for certainty. Predictability.
And although our mind is trying to keep us safe by doing this —
It’s also probably FAR more stressed out than we realize.
I’d bet it takes up far more energy and headspace always trying to avoid uncertainty — rather than just learning to accept the unknowns in life.
Like,
What if you didn’t need to know the exact year that you’d get married?
What if you didn’t need to know exactly when you’d get that promotion and what the pay raise will look like?
What if you didn’t need to know where you’ll be living 3 years from now?
Guess what…. you don’t.
The uncertain may feel a bit scary and unfamiliar, but it also takes the pressure off us constantly trying to work so hard to make life feel certain and predictable.
It takes the pressure off needing to achieve certain outcomes and stick to a certain timeline — that might be both misaligned and extremely difficult.
It also takes the pressure off needing to even KNOW exactly what we want — let alone what we’ll want 5 years from now.
So — now that we’ve clarified why we don’t need a 5-year plan — or even a 1-year plan…
What do we do instead?
How can we still assure we’re taking steps forward and not falling behind?
I’m glad you asked.
It’s simple, really…
So simple you’re probably going to laugh and want to click out of this article the second you see it. But stick with me here.
Ask yourself,
What’s the next aligned step?
Not the next 20 steps,
Not the next 10 steps,
Not even the next 2 steps…
But the next singular step.
That’s ALL you need to know right now.
Because guess what —
That step will naturally lead to the next,
and the next,
and the next…
And suddenly, it all starts to naturally unfold.
And before you realize it, you’ve taken 10 aligned steps.
But not because you planned out all 10 steps right now.
Not because they were a part of your grand and “perfect” 5 Year Plan you crafted years ago.
But because you just took one step at a time.
And because you trusted how it was guiding you.
That what your intuition was calling you towards was intentional.
And that these steps that feel aligned to you right now would compound into a life that feels SO much better than that 5-year plan ever would have.
(And it did… you can save this article to come back to as future you for evidence!)
So, what’s the next step for you?
What’s ONE step you can take today? This week?
Even if it’s different than the “plan”.
Even if it’s scary. Uncertain. Unfamiliar.
Just take that next aligned step,
and see where it leads you.
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Want to explore 1:1 life coaching with me? I help you get clarity on what you truly want, work through the blocks and fears keeping you from making it a reality, and finally take steps towards a life that actually feels fulfilling. Learn more and book a free clarity call with me!
See you soon,
Camille
