Since the early days of his career, Charles Tarbey says he has sought to abandon goal setting in the traditional sense, as it is too easy to fall victim to an all-or-nothing set of achievements. Instead, he says, you should consider 2017 as the time for creating a workspace that you enjoy and approach your goals with a new, flexible outlook.
As we enter the New Year and plan out the months to come, I believe a more malleable attitude toward your annual strategies is best, as it allows you to adapt to changing circumstances throughout the year.
I strongly believe that the key to achieving goals on a personal, business or even brand level is to create goals that are flexible enough to be achievable in the short term, while aspirational enough to build up a long-term momentum that is both motivating and positive for you and your business.
Here are five tips that may help you in developing your goals for 2017.
1. Break down your goals
Goal setting can be intimidating as you set the bar high for what you and your business can achieve. Then, if there is a lack of consistent achievement, feelings of failure can develop and create dark clouds over you and your company.To overcome this, I challenge you to break down major goals into simpler, short-term objectives. This way large goals can look more feasible and feelings of motivation will stem from regular wins.
This year, one of Century 21’s dominant goals was to introduce ‘The New Century 21’ and give our brand identity a revitalised appearance in the Australian real estate market. We attempted to make this broad objective more achievable by breaking it down into five targeted categories – which included developing a new lead generation system, doing a rebrand of marketing collateral, commissioning a new and exciting range of corporate apparel, developing a new agent training platform and further enhancing our network’s access to international real estate markets.
2. Make your goals flexible
Some businesses set their goals in concrete; when the slightest problem or hurdle appears, the things that have been worked for can slowly fade into the background as a result. Markets change and so do circumstances, so businesses must be willing to adapt their objectives to these dynamics.
Goal setting can become more beneficial by accounting for surroundings and possible changes in circumstance.
Some business objectives can be likened to scaling Everest – whilst they may be easy to devise and plan out on paper, putting them into action can seem like a mammoth effort.
3. Create a consistent platform for goal setting
Before charging ahead at goals, start with the basics and ensure strong foundations are laid in order for your team to work towards their objectives.
All members of your team should be equipped with the power to learn, develop and maximise their capabilities through these platforms.
Established training programs have long been a priority within the Century 21 network and are viewed as a key component in achieving personal and business objectives. Offering opportunities to develop fundamental skills is an investment in ambitious agents. The confidence that results creates a team driven to make the most of all opportunities, regardless of market conditions.
4. Revitalise your weekly meetings
One of the Century 21’s Five Laws involves conducting a ‘weekly action meeting’ – but not in the traditional sense of a sales meeting.
Consider planning your meeting agenda to address short-term objectives that are specific to each part of your business. This could involve actions specifically targeted to sellers, buyers, potential sellers and general marketing objectives.
5. Demonstrate consistency to your clients
Placing an emphasis on consistency within your business and determining your goals in line with this value will likely have positive flow-on effects on
your dealings with clients.
By setting and achieving short-term objectives, you or your business may, as a result, garner a positive reputation as a consistent performer – and this will likely lead to new opportunities for the future.
