“A goal without a PLAN is just a wish”. Remember our key word “plan” for a second. We have all heard someone say “write down your goals and you will be successful.” What they do not teach you is that writing down your goals is only a small part of the battle. As Realtors we are all business owners, and any successful business needs a lot of well thought out plans.

All too often we set goals for ourselves, but never really break these goals down into what we actually have to DO on a daily basis to actually succeed. If someone told you that they wanted to lose 50lbs this year, you would consider that a very large goal (and task). What if the same person told you that they were going to lose only 1lb this week? You would likely think to yourself, “so what, just skip a meal!” Well 52 weeks of losing 1lb a week equals 52lbs lost in a year. Now all you have to do is make sure every single week you are able to hit your smaller 1lb goal which over time will keep adding up to conquer your much bigger, hard to believe goal (of 50lbs). I call this “Winning The Week.”

Most Realtors start the year off motivated, but without a plan.  The spring market will come quickly, and just as quickly as it comes, it will go. Summer will arrive and most begin to feel strong about their business as they become busy with clients, writing offers, and attending closings. While being busy during these golden months some Realtors forget to continue working on the little things each week that create long term success. Before they know it, the middle of the year arrives and they are behind on their goals. How did that happen when you were so busy all spring and summer? Poor planning and losing track of what you have to keep doing consistently every week. At this point motivation lowers, and people fall into the “mid-year rut”. It has happened to all of us. As humans we do not have a never ending supply of motivation. Think of your motivation like the power bar of a video game. The lower the power bar (motivation) goes the harder it is to stay focused. When you become tired, unmotivated, or fall into a rut (we all do), relying on a plan is the easiest way to dig yourself out and continue on a path to reaching your goals.

So what should a Realtor do? Begin thinking about your goals NOW. Think about what you want to achieve in 2018 (personally and professionally). Write those goals down, place them someplace visible (make sure you can see them at least once a day so that you hold yourself accountable). Once written, break those goals down into what your mini weekly goal is going to be. Example: if you need 100 warm leads a year to hit your production goal, you need 2 warm leads each week. Those 2 leads are your weekly goal. When you hit those 2 leads in a week, you have “Won The Week”. Keep winning the week and you are going to win the year. The beauty about the real estate business is that there is enough data to help us quantify how many leads are required to close a transaction. Most people think of their goals as a production number (for example 8 million dollars in closed transactions is a goal for many Realtors). The average sales price for homes in the Chicagoland are is just over $250,000.00. So to sell 8 million dollars you need to sell on average 32 homes (some will have a higher average so this number will be lower). So from here you can calculate how many leads you need to achieve this number of sales. This is called planning folks! Remember wishing is great if you are blowing out your birthday candles, but don’t just wish your business goals to come true, PLAN them.

If you are an agent and have any questions about your own specific real estate goals, or how to break down your individual goal into your weekly goals please feel free to reach out to me for a no strings attached one on one coaching and training session on goal setting. I would love to help you achieve and exceed those 2018 goals. Contact Mo Dadkhah at Mo@mainstreetreg.com or at 847.431.6222. Good luck and remember PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!