Year-end goals are great, but they can often feel like lofty, far-looking achievements – especially at the beginning of a New Year. I do advocate for a mix short- and long-term goals, but it is often in that breakdown of the longer-term goals that the shorter-term outcomes become achievable.

Enter “The 12-Week Year,” a New York Times bestselling book that outlines how to get more done in 12 weeks than many people do in 12 months. This abbreviated approach to goal achievement allows you to close the gap between what you want to get done and what you actually get done.

Another benefit of moving up goal-production timelines is it allows you to stay flexible in an ever-changing industry like ours. Interest rates, the broader economy, housing stats and the upcoming election can change our industry seemingly overnight. It’s much easier to pivot and reset our sails if we’re on Day 32 of a 90-day timeline, versus a 365-day timeline.

After reviewing the book, I’ve taken the information and translated that into a plan for this industry. Here’s what I’ve put together:
– Set goals around:

– Raising production (revenue)
– Managing profitability (expenses)
– Human connections (the all-encompassing experience for employees, customers and referral partners)

– Create one to three strategies for each of these goals
– Identify the action-based items that will turn these strategies into goal achievements
– Evaluate your progress at the end of this period, during which time you:

– Forge ahead, as these strategies proved successful
– Revise your strategies, adding and deleting where necessary
– Discontinue this course and re-evaluate your strategies and action-based items

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I know your 2020 goals won’t be, either. Through a mix of thought, action and evaluation, however, you can move your needle significantly throughout the year.