I'm not a fan of the question, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"  It's hard to predict things like that when you're young.  Old people have no problem.  They make definitive statements about the near future like, "I plan to be retired and living in California."  And that's a realistic and obtainable goal.  Young people say stupid things like, "I hope to be married, driving a Lamborghini, and living in a big house in the center of Manhattan."  There are a billion things that would need to happen before any of that happens.  First, you need to find a girlfriend.  Then you have to convince her to marry you.  Then you have to get a job.  A good job.  A really good job.  Actually, you should try to win the lottery or rob a bank because no normal people make enough money to buy a house in the center of Manhattan.  A Lamborghini, maybe (though I would no longer consider a person who buys a Lamborghini "normal").  But a place in Manhattan?  We're talking orders of magnitude in price difference.  Orders of magnitude. 

And things change.  If I answered that question 5 years ago, I might've included marriage (or at least a hope), but I definitely wouldn't have mentioned a house.  I wouldn't have said anything about planning for a family or doing yard work on weekends.  And cats?  Who knew I would own 2 cats?  That's just unfathomable. 

I think it's funny to listen to the difference between the answers that come from guys and those that come from girls.  Girls answer, "I plan to be married, have a kid or two, and be blah blah blah."  Guys say, "I guess I'll probably end up married, maybe have a kid, and be making millions of dollars."  No normal guys plan on getting married.  And it's even funnier when dating couples hear what each other thinks.  The girl says, "I plan to be married..." and the guy has a mini heart attack.  It's quite funny to watch. 

I think it's inevitable that there's always that one person in a group who doesn't really have goals.  They answer, "In 5 years, I plan to be doing pretty much the same thing I'm doing right now."  Everybody else kind of looks down on that person because they're a loser with no goals.  I don't look down on that person.  I think it's cool.  I don't think everybody needs to experience different cultures.  I don't think everybody needs to get married and start a family.  I don't think everybody needs to move out of their hometown and get a big-time job.  I think it's ok for people to do relatively little with their lives.  Who cares?  Does anybody really leave any kind of lasting legacy by doing anything?  Do people leave their permanent mark on society by traveling to Honduras?  Do people's lives really change after they skydive onto the top of Mount Everest and snowboard down it while playing a ukulele and smoking a pipe?  Maybe.  But they just become "that girl who went to South America" and "that guy who did the Mount Everest thing".  If those people didn't do those things, the world would be the same place and those people would be the same people.  Maybe the goal of "goal-less losers" is to stay in their hometown and work at the same job for their whole life.  Who are we to say that's anything less worthy than what we do?  Why do people need to complete a certain number of outrageous tasks and travel to a certain number of faraway destinations to be considered acceptable?  I say do whatever you want. #psychology