In order to figure out where you are going, you must “come clean” and be honest about where you are currently. Only from that point, where you are right now, can you chart the course and create a roadmap from where you are to where you want to be. From that perspective, at the end of every year, I sit down with each of the agents I work with and we do a business planning session for the following year. This planning session involves three steps: Step One: Where are you now? We start by pulling up the document we created for them at last year’s meeting. That document is full of notes, goals and commitments we wrote down for them for the year we just went through. We review and remember what they wanted one year ago and how far they’ve come. We discuss and celebrate the big and little wins they accomplished. This defines where they are currently. Point A in the roadmap. Step Two: Where do you really want to be one year from now? We discuss what they really want for this upcoming year. Not how they are going to get there yet, but what they really actually want. Most importantly, though, we ask why. Why do you want that to be the outcome one year from now? What they really want is not just how many houses they want to sell. How do they want to feel. What if they want to be able to sell the same number of homes, but do it in less time or only working one weekend day? I’ve experienced it time and time again and see it in the agents I coach. We think we want something, we focus on the “thing,” the goal. “I want to sell 4 homes a month,” but then when we look at the why or we look at what they really want, “so I can spend more time with my kids” we run into conflicts. Sorting out what you really want and why leads to more specific goals that are often times easier to accomplish than we think. Step Three: What is the easiest, most direct route to get there? Sometimes the way we think we are going to get somewhere might not be the only way. Just like a roadmap when you are driving from point a to point b, there are several routes to get to the destination, some longer than others, some more direct. Some may be more miles, but you go more quickly, like on the superhighway vs. the back country roads. So, we look at the specific steps of how they want to get where they are going. Is how they think they can accomplish what they really want truly going to get them where they want to be? Is it the only way? Is there an easier/less expensive/less stressful way to accomplish the same true end goal they are looking to achieve? In this podcast episode, I take you through step one with one of the newer agents in my office. This is part one of our planning session, focusing on the past year. You’ll love hearing his perspective on how although he didn’t reach his sales goals, this year was a huge turning point for him and how he gained the knowledge and confidence that will change his business forever. Want to take these same steps to plan for a successful next year in real estate? I have a guide that can help you. You can get that here.