Do You Have A 25 Year Vision?

For the last decade, part of my December ritual of annual reflecting and planning has included some form of “visioning” of the next year.

Every year the process has changed a bit. But it usually looks like goal setting or making a vision board or writing a reflection on the last year as if today were a year from now.

In the last year and a half since the pandemic hit, it’s been really challenging to know what next month will feel like let alone 12 months from now. It’s been futile to set goals with such an unstable and unpredictable future.

I was sharing a list of 2020 goals made before the pandemic with a Cavedweller friend and half her list was left uncrossed and under the “notes” column it just said “LOL 2020.”

Maybe you’re feeling the same way.

In the case that you do, here’s one thing that might help as we’re entering that period of end-of-the-year reflections. Write out a 25 Year Vision. 2-3 pages about what your life is like as if it were 25 years from now. Mine begins, “Tomorrow is my 60th birthday, and in the last 25 years I…”

I organized it by the different areas of my life I want to focus on: family, career, learning, community, art, home, health, rest, and fun. Over the course of about 2 or 3 sittings of an hour each, I completed it. I review it monthly and have edited it twice since I first created it.

The 25 Year Vision is not a plan. It’s not actionable, it’s not a step-by-step productivity guide to achieve your best life. But it did help me get out of the weeds of the small tactical to-dos of everyday life in an unpredictable world and refocus my attention towards the bigger things I’d like to build, work towards, and become.

If you’re feeling a little stuck in your goal settings, try it out.

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Caveday is a company aimed at improving your relationship to work. We write regular posts on Medium and send out monthly newsletters with productivity tips, life hacks, and recommendations. Sign up for the mailing list here.

Jake Kahana is a cofounder of Caveday. Sign up for his personal emails, called “The Email Refrigerator” here.