The 5-Step Planning Process for Accomplishing Your Goals
It’s essential to spend 30-60 minutes every week working on your business, not just in your business. Take time once a week — perhaps on a slow day like Sunday — and follow these five steps to get the most out of your week.
STEP ONE: GOAL REVIEW
Review your yearly, quarterly and monthly goals, as well as your written plan of action. Your goals should be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Action-Oriented
- Realistic
- Time-Bound
Make your goals challenging, personal and stated positively. It’s okay to modify them over time, but don’t do it just to say you met your goals! You need to physically write your goals down to imprint them into your brain. Once you have the details, share them with your loved ones. In the words of Brian Tracy, “Those who do not have goals are doomed forever to work for those who do.”
STEP TWO: PREVIOUS WEEK
Review the previous week for lessons learned, things you want to repeat and things you never want to do again. Just take five minutes in review to appreciate yourself for a great week and to identify things that need to be corrected.
STEP THREE: NEXT WEEK
Review, plan and schedule the upcoming week, checking all your appointments, meetings and lunch dates. I recommend that you write your schedule down a second time to make sure you didn’t double-book yourself and that you left yourself enough driving time between appointments. This review triggers next steps and action items, and should take about 20 minutes.
STEP FOUR: LEAD GENERATION
Lead generation makes a good agent into a great agent. We define lead generation time as any activity that could generate a lead, including calling, texting, door knocking, holding an open house, sending out postcards or an e-newsletter, blogging, attending a networking event or creating a Facebook ad. It’s anything that gets your name out there.
STEP FIVE: CLIENT CUSTOMER SERVICE
This includes your current business time. You need to schedule these as well for organization, but going to inspections, creating comps for a new listing appointment and following up with leads from an open house are activities that run your business. You are wearing your customer service hat and servicing your clients.
Finally, be sure to save time for everything else — going to the gym, spending time with family, riding your bike, reading and relaxing. Remember not to schedule every minute of every day. Leave some time for spontaneity, serendipity, a nice glass of wine and to stop and smell the roses!
