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Reflecting on the year that just passed, business leaders must examine how productively our time was spent and identify the situations where we can improve, both professionally and personally. It’s that time when we consider plans for the year ahead and the challenges the year may bring. It means time to set your goals for the forthcoming campaign of your life and implement a plan for accomplishing a better version of yourself.
SMART Goals Work Best
You must be realistic when setting goals, because discouragement can arise if you set unachievable targets, resulting in higher likelihoods of failure and diminished long-term confidence. When creating any goal, a common acronym to use as a framework is SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Easy to remember, the SMART process for creating goals can help real estate professionals achieve success in all sorts of challenges. As a business owner, evaluate these key facets of your life when creating goals this year.
1. Professional Life
Evaluate your professional life from various angles. How can we make the company better? How can we advance our employees/colleagues? Spend time reflecting on the previous year, and see how you can improve in the year ahead. Eliminate to-do items that you tested and proved to be unprofitable or useless. Also look at new advances and technologies that you expect to improve your business approach. Strive to implement items that will allow you to overcome existing challenges deemed unattainable in the past; this is a concrete path for sustained growth.
Continually track employees’ and team members’ goal progress from the previous year to see if they are on pace to reach their achievements. If not, what can you, as a leader, do to ensure that goals are achieved for the coming year? If the goals were met, work together to create new goals for improvement.
2. Personal Life
When reviewing your personal goals, work will likely be an element, but mainly, you may want to look at relationships with clients, customers, family, friends, colleagues and employees, and consider your everyday life experiences as well. Find where you need to make adjustments to become the best version of yourself for them. Focus on the main components of your life, such as health, finances and growth.
When you know the “why” behind your goals, you can better understand how personal goals in relationships, health and personal growth serve as the reasons we make financial, career and similar goals. The “whys” deserve the most attention because they readily affect our work life and our success. For example, keeping yourself healthy may result in increased focus and energy levels, allowing both mind and body to thrive, especially during long workdays or business trips. A healthy lifestyle often leads to clearer thought processes that encourage solutions and ideas, making you feel confident in taking on any challenges that help you or your business improve. Strengthening work relationships with employees is another example of a personal goal that can advance the success of your brokerage. As you prioritize employees, they prioritize their productivity for you.
3. Charity/Community
I believe success in its truest form is enhanced by fortifying those less fortunate than yourself, so I set an annual goal to try to benefit certain charities, people and causes in my community. Recently, our company partnered with a nonprofit organization to create educational programming for youth. An expression of gratitude and the relative appreciation of a person’s most-valued possessions can catapult you into a new echelon of humility. Different mindsets and plans of action can be tailored to your individual style; however, as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
Through charitable endeavors, we can all be involved in the community, give back in a meaningful manner and create impact. You might start by considering charitable opportunities that mean something to your brokerage firm. Do you, your employees or a client have personal experience with a specific charity or organization to which the company could contribute in some meaningful way? Is there an ongoing need in your community or in the neighborhood where your business is located? You might consider service opportunities related to housing since you are in the real estate business, for example. If you and your employees become more vested in the opportunity, then it makes an impact — perhaps a newsworthy one, as well. Publicity, although it may be a residual benefit, shouldn’t be the primary reason for serving the community,
The public generally responds positively to altruism they see in companies. You’ll discover new clients who want you to represent them. You’ll find dedicated associates drawn to your workplace, wanting to be part of your team. Goals designed to contribute to a charity or a community warrant brainstorming with your team. Sincere service is a win-win, as it brings joy to those who receive your kindness and to your team as they give of themselves.
Set a few SMART goals, and bring along your whole team for the ride toward a year of potential and progress. Here’s to change, new challenges and creating community.