By Gregg Cohen

By now I'm sure you've read at least a hundred blog posts about the importance of setting goals (it's the token blog post at the beginning of the new year, right?)  I have too.  But in all of the blogs that I read, it seems that everyone forgets the most important part of goal-setting:  REVIEWING THEM DAILY!

You see, I would rather write mediocre goals and have them posted where I look at them everyday than write the most effective, objective, inspiring goals and stick them in a drawer.  Why?  Because you have a much better chance of accomplishing your goals if you look at them every day.  And I would rather accomplish mediocre goals than no goals at all.

Here's a great article on goal-setting from Peter Giardini and the Bigger Pockets blog.  Even though it doesn't stress the part about reviewing them daily, it does a great job of describing the "success cycle." 

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Your 2011 Goals, and How You Can Guarantee Their Acheivement!

by Peter Giardini on Dec. 30, 2010

With the New Year just around the corner, your goals for the coming year should be well thought out, committed to paper, and not stuffed into a drawer only to be looked at in the next couple of months.

The funny thing about goals is that while most real estate investors understand their importance, very seldom are these goals ever achieved.  What a shame… because many investors equate not achieving their goals to failing!

So, why don’t more real estate investors achieve their goals?

There are a many causes… but just a few that I believe are major contributors.

First and foremost, many investors feel compelled to develop goals, but they end up doing one or the other:

  — They either put their goals in a drawer and never refer back to them… or

  – They don’t understand the SUCCESS cycle relative to goals!

THE SUCCESS CYCLE!

The success cycle is nothing more then a feedback loop.  It starts like this:

1. You develop goals (a good first step, but just a very simple beginning),
2. You execute (RUTHLESSLY).  Focusing only on those processes, procedures or actions that will lead to PAYDAYS (after all isn’t that what we are in the real estate investment business for),
3. Measure your progress relentlessly.  If you have not heard this saying, post it on your success board: What You Don’t Measure, You Can’t Improve!
4. Make course corrections quickly.  If something isn’t working, try another approach, and then repeat steps 2 through 4 until you achieve YOUR goal(s).
5. Keep this very important fact in mind:  No one – absolutely no one – achieves their goals and success in a straight line.  Constant course corrections are required… always! 

And that is where so many investors get tripped up.  They develop their goals, start to execute, don’t achieve the results they are seeking, and instead of making course corrections, they abandon the entire goal as being too hard to accomplish.

What a shame!

Bottom line – as the New Year fast approaches remember that while your goals are a critical first step, constantly adjusting the actions you are taking to achieve those goals is the only way to guarantee your success.  

Happy New Year 2011!

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So take 30 minutes sometime this week and write some killer goals for 2011!  And then take the extra step to post those goals somewhere where you can see them everyday.  You'll be amazed at how much you accomplish when you look back one year from today.