5 THINGS YOU

5 Things You Can Do To Achieve Your Biggest Goals

If there’s one thing successful people can agree on, it’s that setting goals has been key to their success. Whether you’re creating a five year plan or just settling on what you want to achieve by the end of the day, setting goals gives you the focus and direction you need to complete even the biggest tasks.

But there is a method to setting them. It’s a process that takes careful thought and consideration up front, which is then combined with the hard work necessary to implement your plan. Luckily there are proven methods to goal setting that you can start using immediately.

1. MAKE YOUR GOALS SPECIFIC Yes, it’s fun to think in grand terms of where you want to end up in life and in your career, but it’s better to have a specific goal like “Increase my sales by 25%”, than “Get rich.” When a goal is clear and specific, it allows you to figure out the exact steps you need to take to accomplish it. The more general it is, the more paralyzed you might be when it comes to figuring out what to do since, the choices may be overwhelming.

2. MAKE IT ATTAINABLE Making attainable goals might seem boring, I mean afterall, you want to dream big! But you don’t want to suffer through the disappointment of not reaching your goal, something that may not even be possible at this stage in your life to begin with. One solution to that is creating goal levels. You can have the dream goal, but underneath that you have the realistic goals that are setting up a foundation for achieving the big one. Things that are attainable still take work and effort to achieve. Those small victories will keep you motivated and encouraged to go for the bigger dreams. And don’t forget, those little goals may have been things you wouldn’t have gotten done if you didn’t set out to achieve them, so be proud!

3. PUT A PLAN OF ACTION IN WRITING Your plan of action should include daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. There is something about seeing things in writing and crossing them off the list that is oddly satisfying.The daily goals are especially important in regards to building up those good habits. The first few weeks of your plan of action are critical when it comes to your long term success. Reaching a goal is something you are doing every day, all throughout the day, in numerous ways. Achieving goals is all about creating good new habits.

4. MAKE IT MEASURABLE This is key, since you definitely want to reward yourself for a job well done, and having a goal that is measurable in some way is a sure way to know. Maybe it’s to increase your lead generation or to cut expenses, whatever the case, have a measurable test you need to meet, as well as a time frame. Then calculate what you have to do to reach that goal. Not only should your goal be specific, but the plan and the measure of success should also be set in stone.

5. ADJUST AS YOU GO You can have all the best laid plans, and you still might quickly realize that what you thought would help you reach your goal, might not be cutting it. Commitment to reaching your goals is good, but commitment to a plan you know isn’t going to work is not only a waste of time, but will be a devastating blow to your motivation. Sticking to a plan everyday means adjusting it accordingly.

CHRISTY BOHLEN

As the leader of Christy Bohlen Sells Homes Team at Keller Williams in Katy, Texas; Christy Bohlen has built a team that has “consistently ranked in the Top 1200 out of 34,000 Realtors in the Houston Metroplex for the last five years” through her knowledge, drive and dedication to serve her clients and community.

Prior to entering the real estate field, Christy had a successful career in the corporate world. She credits her husband with her decision to pursue real estate as a profession. “I had been working 60-80 hour a week in the corporate world, spending very little time with my family,” she recalls. “I found myself getting frustrated with the whole corporate world. My husband said to me, ‘Why don’t you get into real estate. You’d be great at it.’ So, I took a leap of faith, quit my job, and went to real estate school” That was six years ago, and she’s never looked back.

With a volume of $8-$10 million a year, eighty percent of her business is repeat and referral clientele. “Our mission is to provide a gold service to our clients,” she asserts. “We treat every person like a member of the family and give them what I like to call the “HUG” experience, meaning everyone gets a theoretical hug. We also strive to change lives and build wealth.” What Christy loves most about her job is the opportunity to help people on a daily basis. “Our work is not only about the transaction,” she says. “We assist them in building their personal wealth.”

To stay in touch with her clients, Christy makes phone calls, holds events throughout the year, does pop-byes, and holds educational seminars. “We want our clients to learn something about the market,” she says of her community real estate programs. It’s no wonder that Christy receives stellar reviews for her esteemed work ethic. One client recently wrote: “Christy is an exceptional Realtor that really understands her business! She used a professional stager and hired a professional photographer to make sure that our home stood out as the gem that it was. She priced the house right and brought us multiple offers within 2 days of our house being listed. Because of her expertise, our home set the new record high sales price. We were so fortunate to have her expertise to help us navigate our way through our home selling process.”

To best serve her clients, Christy embraces all avenues to help them achieve their goals. Whether she is doorknocking, holding open houses, posting to social media, or sending out email campaigns, she approaches all with enthusiasm and dedication.

Christy is also a strong believer in giving back to her community. In addition to charity events throughout the year in support of community organizations, Christy sponsors a holiday event for the Ballard House in Katy, Texas. All of the proceeds from the Festival of Trees go back to the facility, which houses patients and their caregivers for treatment of life-threatening illnesses. “We hold a beautiful festival that includes food, music, a craft show, and tree decorating,” she says. The event is eagerly anticipated not only by the Ballard House but the community as a whole.

When not working or donating her time, Christy enjoys being with her family, traveling, and gardening. As for the future, Christy hopes to expand her business to all five areas of Houston. “We want to be able to serve the people of our community so they can achieve their financial and real estate goals.”

To learn more about Christy Bohlen, email her at christybohlen@kw.com or call (832) 795-1915

CRYSTAL BONIN

When Crystal Bonin left her corporate career as a District Sales Manager for a major corporation in the late 1990’s, her plan was to become a stay-at-home mom and devote as much of her attention as possible to her husband and children. When her husband decided to open his own business, however, Crystal chose to go back to work and earn supplemental income for their family to ensure that they would be financially stable during the transition period. She figured real estate would be the perfect career and give her a great worklife balance. Having a highly competitive spirit, Crystal started her own company, Crystal Bonin Realty, a year after getting her real estate license. She’s been in the business for nearly eleven years and now serves clients throughout the Greater Baton Rouge area.

Real estate can look deceitfully easy when a REALTOR® does their job well. “A lot of my clients tell me that I’ve inspired them to look into working in real estate because I make it seem like so much fun. But that’s only because of the hard work we put in behind the scenes. Throughout the years, I have created my own Dream Team, and with them I’m able to make the transaction process as smooth as possible, so that, on closing day, it’s all smiling faces — everyone is happy,” she says.

Crystal credits her work ethic, knowledge, energy and marketing for her large network of repeat and referral business. “My clients know that I get the job done, and they appreciate my honesty and ability to have difficult conversations so that we can achieve their desired outcome. I also spend a lot of time and money researching different marketing techniques to make sure that our listings are seen by as many people as possible,” she says. And on closing day she uses a Mercedes Party bus/limo to drive clients and make their day even more memorable. Thanks to her hard work, Crystal averages $15 million sales volume per year and has been recognized as being in the top one percent of real estate agents nationwide. There’s a lot to love about working in real estate, and for Crystal, the biggest reward is the fact that her job has a huge impact on people’s lives. “It means a lot to me knowing that I play such an important part in getting a family into a home that’s perfect for them. It is truly a unique position to be in when I’m helping a family transition here from another area, a widow sell her home during a difficult time, or helping a first time homebuyer find their dream home when they didn’t even think they could get approved for a loan.” Crystal also loves the aspect of decorating and she stages many of the homes herself.

It is important for Crystal to help her community, which is why she donates to various charities and programs that support her local neighborhood. Outside of her work, she enjoys spending time with her husband— celebrating 28 years of marriage—children and three dogs. Crystal also loves a bit of retail therapy as well as traveling during her time off. Looking toward the future, her focus is to stay on top of cutting-edge technology and constantly improve her marketing techniques, as her goal is to always be the trendsetter when it comes to marketing. She wants her client’s properties to sell as quickly as possible. “I want to build our team so that we can serve even more clients and give them top-notch service at all times.”

For more about Crystal Bonin please call (225) 301–7088 email crystal@crystalbonin.com, or visit www.crystalbonin.com