Vague career direction ('I want to grow', 'something better') produces decade drift. A concrete 5-year plan — specific role, specific skills, specific compensation, specific industry — creates trajectory you can adjust quarterly as new information emerges.
What to write down
Target role in 5 years. Current gap (skills, experience, network). 12-month milestones for closing the gap. Quarterly checkpoints. The plan changes; the act of writing it down accelerates progress.
Most people don't have one. The few who do, advance faster — not because the plan is right, but because the deliberate thinking produces deliberate action.