How to Ensure You Achieve Your Goals in 2020

Eden Sunshine

Vice President, Realty Executives

“Robert,” I emphatically pleaded, “Just because you have goals and clarified your vision and direction for your business doesn’t guarantee you will achieve them. You must proactively work every day on the activities necessary to
achieve those goals. If you aren’t going to do that, then don’t waste your time setting the goals in the first place.” I felt it necessary to make the point with Robert because he, like so many other real estate agents, get caught up in the idea of setting goals to start off the new year and then they tuck the goals away in a file not be seen or acted on the rest of the year. The point is that we shouldn’t bother setting goals if we are simply going through the motions. If you are serious about ACHIEVING the goals you have set for this year, I have an ironclad, step by step approach that virtually guarantees that you will achieve those goals. Here is the process.

Step #1 – Set clear and measurable goals. The goal must excite you. You need to believe the goal is realistic even if you aren’t sure HOW to achieve it. Not knowing how you’re going to accomplish it is okay. More importantly, you must be committed to figuring out how to get there. Some of the best innovations and solutions come when committing to a goal and continually asking the question, “How am I going to get there?”

Step #2 – Once you have a clearly defined, measurable and realistic goal established, the next step is to put in place a mechanism to measure and track your progress to achieving the goal regularly. A mistake many agents make is setting a goal and then neglecting to track it. I recommend, at the very least, reviewing the goals and your progress once per month. If it is an aggressive goal, then you need to look at current performance weekly or even daily.

Step #3 – As you regularly review your goals ask yourself this very simple question, “Am I on track with achieving it or not?” If you are not on track, then proceed to Step 4. If you are on track, celebrate and confirm that you are going to continue doing the same activities that have led to your current success.

Step #4 – If you are falling short of your goal, and this is the tricky and most important part, you must determine the system or systems that are not working and need to be improved. Trying to improve a business or achieve goals
without having systems in place will result in a very random and haphazard approach to innovation and improvement. You are wingin’ it. Great businesses approach improvement by focusing on the systems they need to improve.

As an example, if you aren’t hitting your Gross Commission Income goals, you could have one or more system-related problems.

• • You could have a problem with your system for determining your market and your marketing message.
  • Your system for generating quality leads could need work.
  • You might have a problem getting sellers or buyers to work with you.
  • Or you could have a problem with getting your listings sold or getting buyers to commit to a purchase.

The point is that if you are not achieving your goals, you have a systems problem. Fix the system and you will get your results.

Step #5 – Once you’ve determined where your system problem is, you must improve it. It is quite possible, and most likely, that you don’t even have a documented system. If you don’t have it documented, start there. Think of it
like a recipe or a set of detailed, step by step instructions.

Now, if you already have a documented system, then innovate it. Keep testing and innovating until you get the results you are trying to achieve.

As suggested earlier, the more aggressive your goals, the more important it is to stay up on this process and make your system improvements quickly and effectively. If you follow this system, you will maximize the likelihood of achieving your goals in 2020. Make it a fantastic year.

Eden Sunshine is an entrepreneur, the creator of The Level 7 System, a speaker, author and Vice President of Operations for Realty Executive in Phoenix Arizona. Eden has coached and consulted with over 300 of the top Real Estate agents and teams throughout the USA and Canada since 2003. Eden specializes in helping businesses become scalable, positioned for exponential growth and productivity while establishing a meaningful, high performing business culture.

Eden developed the Level 7 System, which is a one of a kind, simple and systematic business development approach that guides businesses to become scalable, systems-driven with great cultures. He also has developed other ancillary programs like the Systemize Your Business in 90 Days Program. He is in the process of publishing two books: The Book on Building Great Businesses and Woo Hoo: Successfully Transforming Your Business and Your World.