Setting Goals: Reasonable And Realistic Are In The Eyes Of The Goal Setter
Goals are so important and while I do stress reasonable in my goal setting classes...you also need a goal that makes you stretch! Excellent post!
When I was a brand new real estate agent, my broker was providing guidance in the art of setting goals for my first year in the business.
She started by asking how much money I planned to make. I answered that I’d like to double what I was earning in my old job with the federal government , and that was at the top of the government pay scale.
But there was a problem, she thought. Such an ambitious goal might not be realistic, and I could frustrate myself trying to reach it. Perhaps, she suggested, that I could plan to equal my previous earnings during my first year.
I decided to ignore her advice. And I failed to make my “unrealistic” goal. But I missed it by only a few thousand dollars. So here’s the math.
In those days, (the early 1980’s) government employees earned a maximum of a little over $50,000 a year. I set a goal of $100,000. I worked my butt off and earned $96,000, or $46,000 more than if I’d been more “reasonable” or “realistic”.
I certainly didn’t feel like a failure because I didn’t quite reach my goal. And my manager was pretty stunned when the final numbers came out.
And I had to wonder. I’ve always been pretty goal oriented. If I’d set a lower goal, would I have worked so hard and earned as much?
Of course, setting the goal is just one part of meeting it. You also need a plan.
Oh, and you need to get out from behind your computer and list and sell houses!
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