As hard as it may be to believe 2017 is already over three weeks old. It feels like just yesterday we were sitting down writing our resolutions thinking about all the wonderful things 2017 has in store. Before you know it spring will be here quickly followed by summer. If you are not careful 2017 will get away from you and you will be right back where you started. The third week of the year is typically about the time when most resolutions are broken. Not enough progress has been made and you revert back to your old habits. If this is the case don’t let a failed resolution change your long term vision of the business. You can start a new path any time you desire. Here are five steps to take if your resolutions haven’t gone the way you had planned.
- Set New Goals. Following your resolutions and achieving your goals takes constant recalibration. As difficult as it sounds you need to evaluate where you are, what you have done and what more is needed almost every day. One of the biggest problems most dieters have is dealing with setbacks. They often let one bad meal completely get them off track. Once off track they have a tough time getting back on. The same is the case with resolutions. The minute something goes wrong they scrap their plan and revert back to their old patterns. If you have fallen off you need to get right back at it or start over from scratch. The worst thing you can do is feel sorry for yourself and not do anything. By setting new goals you have something motivating and driving you every day. Without them you won’t work as hard or carry a positive attitude. It is not too late to set goals or change the way you do things.
- Visualize Success. Some of the most successful people in every profession visualize their success before they take action. You often hear about golfers seeing the putt go in before they hit it. The same can be the case in your real estate business. You should think about what you want to do, how you want to do it and what steps you need to take to get there. Once you visualize your success that action is actually the easy part. You will already have a mental game plan and blueprint for success. It is important you keep your visualization as realistic as possible. If you think things will be easy you may have a tough time dealing with it when they don’t turn out that way. It may sound corny but you really can do anything you put your mind to. By visualizing your success getting there doesn’t seem as difficult.
- Don’t Give Up So Easily. Achieving your goals and staying true to your resolutions is supposed to be difficult. It is easy keeping things at status quo and not committing to change. The real difficulty is when you decide to change things up and break your old bad habits. Most people who try to quit smoking often fail several times. In fact studies indicate that it takes at least a half dozen tries before they finally quit for good. You need to have this same mentality when trying to achieve your goals. Getting what you want done or where you want to go won’t be without a few bumps in the road. A large majority of goal setting is about having the discipline to accept that it will be a constant battle. By having the fight to constantly get up regardless of your setbacks is the real key in getting what you want. Achieving your goals won’t be easy but nothing in life that is worth anything is.
- Think Big. It is ok to set your goals as big as you vision can stand. If you don’t think big and set your resolutions high enough you will never realize your full potential. You can take baby steps in getting there but you can’t be afraid to set the bar high. Most people will go as far as their expectations allow them. If your goal is to only close a few deals a year you will probably end up close to that mark. However if you have higher aspirations you will probably come pretty close to reaching it. One of the best things around real estate investing is that there is no ceiling on your success. You can truly close as many deals as you can handle. By thinking big even if you fall just a little short you still end up higher than you would have.
- Consider Failure. What happens if you don’t have the success you anticipate? Are you content with having your business fall right back to square one? Many people like to vision success but what about failure? Sometimes the fear of failure can serve as the best motivator. Knowing what will happen if you don’t hit your goals is worse than anything anyone can say or do. Think about what would cause you to fail and how you can avoid it. Putting these thoughts in your head is not a way of being negative but rather showing you the worst case scenario. If you want to avoid this you need to stay focused on the right track.
The New Year is nothing more than a convenient time to commit to change either in your business or personal life. The truth is that any time is a good time for necessary change. If your New Year’s resolutions have gotten off track now is the time to get back on track.
