“Real goals require real systems. Stated goals require stated systems.” — James Clear

2019 is right around the corner and business planning should be underway! During his most recent monthly Facebook Live, Xperience CEO Chris Suarez presented the “Expandable Business Plan.” What is a goal? The dictionary defines goal as:the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or result. A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envisions, plans and commits to achieve. People endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.   We often talk about setting SMART Goals:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound  

Management by Objectives (MBO), was first popularized by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management. MBO is the process of defining specific objectives within an organization that management can convey to organization members, then deciding on how to achieve each objective in sequence. This process allows managers to take work that needs to be done one step at a time to allow for a calm, yet productive work environment. This process also helps organization members to see their accomplishments as they achieve each objective, which reinforces a positive work environment and a sense of achievement. An important part of MBO is the measurement and comparison of a team member’s actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees themselves have been involved with the goal setting and choosing the course of action to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities.To set ourselves — and our teams — up for success by MBO, we must identify Real Goals, yet we often base our performance on Stated Goals. What is the difference?A Stated Goal is what we say out loud and state as what we want or need to accomplish. A Real Goal is the level of actions we are actually willing to take to achieve the desired outcome. Action translates into our behaviors or habits. There is always a pay off for any behavior that we are choosing NOT to do or the behavior we choose to REPEAT. We judge ourselves at the level of the Stated Goal yet we take action at the level of our Real Goal. What is the impact of this? If we are judging ourselves to the level of the Stated Goal, what are our feelings? Are they good feelings about ourselves and our potential? What is the long term impact? Our actions must align without true desire. When there is alignment of words and actions, goals are accomplished. When there is lack of alignment, nothing is accomplished as desired and confusion is the result.  To identify your Real Goal, truly be honest with yourself. Is the goal really your goal or is it what you think others’ expectations are? Interrogate your own reality. It is only with alignment of head and heart that the hand (action) rises to the level of the true desired goal. James Clear teaches us that real goals require real systems. Stated goals require stated systems. In order to achieve our goals, we need a clear business plan with one main goal with three priorities and supporting strategies that will result in success. Here is a real estate template of the Expandable Business Plan or 1-3-5, to get you started on your 2019 goals. If you are a solo agent, you own the entire plan. If you have a team, each leader or agent on your team owns a piece of the organization’s plan. On Xperince’s leadership team, we track our progress of our 1-3-5 each week. We rely on the Millionaire Real Estate Agent’s Consultative Interview for accountability. It’s simple, just use these clear questions:

• What was your goal?

• How did you do?

• How do you feel about that?

• Based on how you did, what do you need to do now?

  • Is there anything that might prevent you from doing that?

  • If you needed training or support in anything, what might that be?