The Soviets were great for five year plans: They had a new one every year.

Stephen Covey (The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People) says you should have a "personal mission statement." Frequent review and updating are required. After all, it’s been a couple of years since "I want to be able to drink a six pack in 30 minutes" qualified as an aspiration. Been there, Mel Hutchins did it (Stroh’s).

Tom Peters says you should re-invent yourself every five years. He believes you should create your own personal brand. Brand Management is big these days, you know?

Tom Cruise had a new plan in Jerry McGuire. Cost him his job, but things worked out okay in the end. He got the girl.

It’s Friday, March 13, 1998. I’m back on Northwest Airlines (feeling lucky, punk?) flying over the Arizona desert on my way back home from a couple of days in Phoenix.

Yesterday, I was screaming through the desert in a 1999 Mercury Cougar at the Bob Bondurant School for High Performance Driving. The radio was cranked – Billy Thorpe, "Children of the Sun." I’ll bet you haven’t heard that one in a while. It was my 34^th birthday.

It’s time for a new five year plan.

This is about what I want to accomplish over the next five years. It’s about what kind of person I want to be when I wake up on my 39^th birthday. It’s about staying out of the far too easily acquired ruts of life. It’s about the accumulation of experiences, not possessions. It’s about not saying with a deep sigh, "Whatever."

It’s about not sleeping on aircraft and having the drool run out of the side of your mouth.

So, as this is work in progress, here’s a list of wills and won’ts:

• I will complete two sprint triathlons this summer.
• I will complete two USTA length triathlons next summer.
• I will travel to as many parts of the world as my budget and vacation days will allow. I won't go where killing Americans is a proud family tradition.
• I will continue to study Spanish. I won't be satisfied with rudimentary knowledge.
• I will not wear synthetic fiber. That goes without saying. Gortex and other athletic weather related apparel does not count.
• I will value art. I won't have "my TV shows." In fact, I would probably be a lot better off without a television.

…blah blah blah. You don’t want to read about each and every one of my wills and won’ts. I guess the question I will ask of you is this: What is your plan? What are your wills and won’ts? What kind of person do you want to be in five years?