Thinking about your future without looking into a great big abyss

“Where do you see yourself in five years time?”

Wow, this question sucks, big time. When you’re asked it in a job interview, you know they’re expecting “in a successful position with your company” or something equally nauseating when you really just want to say “on a beach, with a drink, no longer working for anyone else!”. When you’re asked it in a coaching session, it can leave you drifting, scrabbling around for an answer and it can make you More worried, More panicky, More unconfident about your future. So, how do you go about thinking about the future without it being too thinkythink?

In life coaching sessions, you’re often prompted to think about your future – it can be a really useful way to lay the groundwork for your goals. But, any good life coach won’t ask you that queasy question, they’ll ask you for something more specific because who the hell knows where they’ll be in five years time, that’s a hella long way from now!

Instead of that big old abyss question with infinite answers, I ask something more grounded from my coaching clients and how I ask it might help you figure out your goals too. So, here it is.

“Take a moment to close your eyes (only if it helps you to imagine) and think about this.

You’re sitting in a chair and it’s 14th June, 2023.

You’re feeling comfortable in the chair.

What kind of chair are you sitting in?

Are you indoors or outdoors?

What noises can you hear around you?

What can you feel on your skin?

What can you smell?

What can you taste on the tip of your tongue?

What were you doing moments before you sat in that chair?

It’s the 14th of June, 2023.

Open your eyes and tell me:

Where is that chair?

How are you feeling sitting in that chair?

Where are you and what are you doing?”

By using an exact date and using all of your senses, you’re not staring at a great abyss of five years in the future. Instead, you’re really thinking about where you are and what you’re doing at a specific point in time. You’re keeping yourself grounded but you’re still letting your imagination fly.

Once you’ve got that image, thought or feeling in your head, you can then start to delve more into how do you get to feeling like that and being in that setting by the 14th of June in 2023.

Figure out your big dream, your big, big goal first and then, with the help of a life coach, look at creating and achieving all the smaller steps you need to take to get to that date and that feeling and that place.

If you want help figuring out your goals or how to get to your big, big goal, hit me up here and let’s talk some more.