Most people make vague “goals” for the new year, but rarely make plans on how to accomplish them. Without the commitment to a plan and process, a small few actually follow through with their resolutions.

Real estate coach Tom Ferry did some research, and found that only 40% of Americans attempt to improve their lives by setting goals. However, only 8% will actually follow through. These numbers seem dismal, but with the right mindset and processes, you can achieve your goals in a snap. Here are some tips from Tom Ferry on goal setting.

Set SMART Ambitious Goals

Tom Ferry states that dissatisfaction is a main trait of ambitious people. What? That sounds negative and counterintuitive! He doesn’t mean unhappy. He means that ambitious people are dissatisfied in settling for “good enough.” They strive for better.

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

Start by setting ambitious goals. Determine clear and meaningful goals, then figure out what motivates you to achieve these goals. Follow the SMART goal-setting outline to ensure that they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Specific What is it exactly that you want to achieve? Be specific with your goals. Instead of saying “I want to close more deals this year,” say “My goal is to help 30 families buy and sell homes this year.”

Measurable This is why having specific goal are important. It’s hard to track and measure what “more deals” means, but you can definitely break down “30 deals a year” into measurable elements and can track your progress.

Attainable What are the steps you need to take to attain your goals? What do you need to do in order to hit 30 deals? How many deals would you need to close a month? How many appointments would you need to set a month to hit that number?

Realistic Make sure the goals you set are reasonable and within your reach. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with reaching for the stars, if you keep setting lofty goals you don’t have the time, money, resources, or experience to reach, you’ll continually miss your mark.

Time-Bound Set a time frame for your goals. Don’t just say you want to close 30 deals…someday. In 3 years? In one year? Then you can take the necessary steps to hit your deadline.

How and Where To Use SMART Goals in Real Estate

Have Aligned Routines In Place

Tom Ferry says “Routine is the sign of an ambitious individual.” The key to actually achieving your goals is to be a person who doesn’t just talk about what they’re going to do, but follows through with action.

“Show me your routines, and I’ll show you your future,” he says. You can have goals and dreams, but if your behaviors and routines don’t align with those goals, you’ll be hard-pressed to reach them.

So create a daily, weekly, or monthly routines that align your behaviors with your commitments. What habits are you going to create that will naturally and automatically cause you to achieve your goals simply by sticking to your routine?

How The Best Real Estate Teams Use CRMs To Set Goals And Succeed

The 4 Disciplines for Success

Tom Ferry has 4 major disciplines that form the basis of goal-setting: the mindset, plan, process, and practice behind your ambitious SMART goals.

The Mindset Starting with the right mindset is the most important step of setting winning goals. Why are you setting this goals? What’s your motivation to achieve them?

If your head isn’t in the right place to begin with, the rest of the steps matter very little. Your mindset is the origin that all your actions will stem from, so your outlook will set the underlying tone for your success.

The Plan Now that you’ve got your head in the game, you’ll need to create a plan to work toward your goals. For example, many people make a New Year’s resolution to lose more weight. But how do you plan to do this?

Making an actual plan would include things like changing your diet to eat healthier, exercising portion control, creating a schedule to visit the gym, setting a morning routine to stretch every day, etc.

In this same way, create an actual plan for achieving your real estate goals. What do you need to do to reach your goals? What does this look like in action?

The Process Once you have a plan in place, it’s time to implement processes to execute that plan. Instead of a general “go to the gym more,” you’d set a process to “go to the gym 3 times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after work.”

For your real estate goals, implementing processes could look like deciding how many calls you are going to make a day, determining how many appointments to set a week, or setting a number of hours to dedicate to prospecting every day.

The Practice In the latest episode of the Tom Ferry Show, he says the first step to having the best year ever is to START. Just start. Whatever plans and processes you’ve put in place, whatever new daily routines you’re out to create, just start your practice by taking action.

Success isn’t an overnight process. Reaching your goals requires you to put your plans and routines into practice on a daily basis.

Maintain Consistent Accountability

It’s one thing to set goals, but you’ll need to have an accountability system in place in order to track and make progress. “If it matters,” says Tom, “you measure it.” He advises that you increase the frequency of accountability.  The more accountability you have in your life, the more successful you will be.

Who do you turn to when you need support or someone to keep you accountable? Tom recommends that meet regularly with a support or mastermind group where you can receive feedback on your business, and accountability for your goals, and a fresh perspective to help you get the results you want.

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Tom Ferry often speaks at BoomTown Unite, our annual client conference, and recently sat down to hold a mastermind session with BoomTown CEO Grier Allen. Also joining them were BombBomb CEO Conor McCluskey and Keeping Current Matters CEO Bill Harney. Watch the video above or read the text version here.

Set Winning Goals To Grow Your Business

Goal-setting is your strategy to continually grow your business and increase your revenue. You’ve got the motivation and drive to expand your business. We’ve got the tools to help you conquer your market