US real estate equity builder Kansas City - How to Set Career Goals in Real Estate Setting career goals in real estate takes time and reflection. You need to step back, imagine your future in a way that you can summarize in one to two sentences. Then, you must translate this vision into actionable objectives. The modern real estate agent is always on the go. On a daily basis, she has homes to show, clients to meet, open houses to host, and paperwork to complete. Not to mention, that the industry is in the middle of a historic shift toward the web, and she now takes on additional web admin and social media duties. With all these demands, it can be hard to step away to look at the big picture. This is a shame because taking the time to set goals has been shown to increase success in a variety of professional pursuits. Steps to Set Career Goals as a Real Estate Agent: 1. Imagine Your Future 2. Create A Vision Statement 3. Create Goals for the 5-year Horizon 4. Create Goals for the 18-Month Horizon 5. Use SMART to Set Specific Objectives 6. Write Down Your Goals and Objectives Imagine Your Future For many, this initial step is the hardest. Before you set a goal you must be able to visualize yourself succeeding in that goal. If you can’t see it, it won’t seem possible. So take some time—close your eyes if you have to—and think about yourself in the future. Try to imagine your most successful self. Here are some questions to guide you. Visualize a typical workday. Where are you and what are you doing? Imagine a conversation with a friend. How do you describe your work to him? Think about a work party. What are you and your colleagues celebrating? Who are your peers in the industry? Who do you admire?
Create a Vision Statement A vision statement is a one to two sentence summary of where you see yourself professionally in the future. It should include as much as possible from what you imagined in the previous step without over burdening it with details. You want a simple, broad outline that focuses on the “what.” We’ll get to the “how” in later steps.
Some good vision statements are: “I want to manage the leading real estate group for ranch and land in Cameron County.” “My career vision is to implement a new sales model that lowers fees for clients and increases volume for the brokerage.” “My vision is to specialize in condo sales in the Dana Point area until I have enough experience to break into the luxury market. “ A goal is a general plan to achieve a vision. An objective is a specific step that should be completed to reach a goal. Both are necessary.
Consider a travel analogy. You want to drive across the country. This is your vision, a broad outline of what you want to do. But you can’t do it in a single day, so you set out some rest points. You plan to spend the night in Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, and Utah before arriving in California. These are your goals, general descriptions of the steps you need to take to achieve your vision. The objectives are the driving instructions, the specific tasks that need to be completed to reach your goals. You can also think of vision, goals, and objectives as a pyramid with one vision at the top, a few goals on the next level down and several objectives on the bottom level. Create Goals for the 18-Month Horizon Of course, five years is a long way off. Many things could change between now and then. So to make sure you progress down your intended path, you should create short-term goals for the next 18 months. Some good examples are: “Complete the requirements to obtain the Accredited Land Consultants designation.” “Design and launch a new website with improved SEO value.”