This time of year, when you are sitting around in the Interregnum, that time between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, when nothing gets done, when you should be looking back to your goals for the last year, and looking ahead to the next.
Looking Back to Last Year
Hopefully you set some goals last year. It’s time to review. If you haven’t that’s OK, skip below to get started. Look at your goals – what did you achieve? Congratulate yourself on them. For each one, determine if the goal was too easy or not. Did the goal make you stretch for success? Or was it something that you would have done anyway?
More importantly, look at the goals you didn’t achieve. What limited you? Were your goals made in such a way that they were SMART goals? See below for how to create SMART goals. If not, the problem was likely in your goal setting, not in your follow-through.
Of course, it may be in your follow-through. Probably the biggest issue here is that you failed to regularly review your goals. Without this, you easily put it off or forget what you wanted to get done. Then you get to December and it’s a crazy rush to get them done or you are just depressed about failing.
You aren’t a failure. If you set the goals right, they were designed to push you out of your comfort zone. You don’t have to complete every goal to be successful. Shoot for the stars and get the moon and you will still have success!
Planning Your Upcoming Year
First, you want to make sure you have your long term plan figured out. What do you want to be doing when you are 70? 60? 50? and so on. Your yearly goals should directly tie in to your long term plan.
You should consider setting a goal in different life areas (personal, finances, relationships, spirituality, health, fun). You don’t need a goal in every area, but do consider them all. Since this blog is in real estate, I’ll focus on that even though I told you not to. I can do it. It’s my blog.
A common goal I see is, “Purchase one 4-plex”. Is that a SMART goal? SMART goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. We are making yearly goals, so they must be done by the end of the year, and as such, are time-bound. Is it also specific? It tells exactly what is to be done – purchase – on what – a 4-plex. It’s measurable – purchase one. It’s attainable – at least probably – depends on your situation. At first it seems relevant, but there is a tiny catch – it needs to be appropriate for your goals. The problem is that it encourages you to buy something and there may be a lot of pressure on you at the end of the year if you haven’t found the right one yet. That pressure could cause you to make a bad purchase decision. That’s definitely not relevant to your long term plan. Making a SMART goal is necessary but not quite enough.
Lead and Lag Indicators
Lead and Lag indicators are things that you measure either before or after doing the thing. The lag measure is easiest to understand. It is usually the goal, if it is measurable. For the goal of purchasing one 4-plex, the number of 4-plexes owned at the end of the year is the lag indicator.
It is often preferable to set your goals as lead indicators rather than lag indicators. What does it take to purchase a 4-plex? Looking at 100 4-plexes to find the right one! The better goal for the year would be to underwrite (evaluate) 10 4-plexes a month. Then, even if the right one doesn’t come along, you will still have been successful in your goal – and you would not be pressured to purchase a lame deal at the end of the year.
Once you have lead and lag mastered you can set your SMART goals correctly.
Set Your SMART Goals
Now you can start setting your goals with a purpose. Make these goals stretches, ones that you can do, but will take you out of your comfort zone a bit. It’s not worth setting these goals if you aren’t going to get somewhere you aren’t already. Make sure they all work toward your long-term plan
Forgive yourself for not meeting all the goals. Shoot for 75%. It’s not a game to win, rather a way to keep you motivated. And perhaps most importantly, set a goal to read through your goals at least weekly, if not daily. Have a great year!
