Posts Tagged ‘dan weis’

Instant Idea For Improving Your Business!

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

 If you haven’t done this yet, you’re costing yourself thousands of dollars and tons of time that you could be spending with your family and your hobbies.

Often, it’s the simplest things that when done over and over again, make the biggest difference in our lives and our pocketbooks.

 So why don’t we do them?

Isn’t that the truth? 

I can count on both hands over and over again how often I get distracted every day by thoughts in my head and phones ringing in my ears. 

If you’re watching TV or listening to the radio or CD, it could end up being hundreds or thousands of times a day.

Lack of focus and constant distractions!

Your mind is constantly playing tricks on you at a conscious and sub-conscious level, because it’s in in constant motion.

In an instant, I can remember the worst client I ever had and ended up never finding a home for him, because I fired him!!!  Then the next second, my mind is off to another memory.
 
Are these thoughts congruent with my current state of mind?  No, but if I’m focused, I’ll be able to reduce the amount of distractions running through my head.
 
You need to make an A-B-C list every night of what you need to do the next day and prioritize the most important ones that have to be finished THAT day.

A - must be done today
B - can be done today or tomorrow
C - delegate it or delete it

You may even have a core 3 - 5 things that are important enough for you to do on a daily basis.

When you wake up, look at your list for the day.  Then when you start your day, go down the list and check them off as you complete them.  BUT DON’T DO #2 until #1 is completed…and so on.

It’s so important to take 5 minutes each night to make your list for the next day, because it will help you focus on what’s most important to do and to help you achieve your goals.

A FATAL ERROR that some people make is they stop making the “To Do List” after awhile, because they think they can ‘remember’ what they have to do and they’re dead wrong.  They slowly lose their momentum.  Never realizing that their business has slowed until it’s too late and they have to start all over again.

If you miss a day though, don’t sweat it.  Accept it and start up again right away.  So what, you missed a day or two, get back on the horse.  Otherwise, a couple of days will turn into 2 weeks…and before you know it, it’s 2 months.

Once you start, don’t quit.  Don’t think “I’ll get back to it later.”  Life is moving too fast and there too many ways to get distracted.  Just keep your feet moving forward one step at a time.

The list will help you stay on focused on your goals.  Whatever you don’t finish today goes on tomorrow’s list.  But if it’s not an A, keep it a B until all of the A’s are completed.

I once heard a millionaire say, “If you decide to go after your dreams, it doesn’t matter if it takes you 3 years, 10 years or a lifetime to achieve…so long as you achieve it.”

Take charge of your time and what you accomplish every day.  Don’t let others steal your time. 

When you have “To Do” thoughts during the day, write them down on your list at that moment and prioritize them as an A - B - C.

Otherwise, if you’re sometimes like me, you may not remember what it was that you wanted to write down.  :)

It only takes a moment…a snap of your fingers to change.  Is it that simple? YES!  Is it that easy to follow through on ?  NO!  But, it’s your decision!

 

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Posted in Success Mindset | 2 Comments »

2 Missing Ingredients To Your Goal Setting Success!

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

What happens when you bake a cake, but you don’t have all of the necessary ingredients?  It’s a flop, isn’t it?

So why do some people achieve their goals time after time while others fail to get out of the gates?
 
There’s a lot of talk about the pros and cons of goal setting.  Some say goals don’t work, while others swear by them.
 
What I do know is if you choose to focus on them and take the steps necessary to complete them, you will usually succeed and achieve your goals.
 
No matter what time of year it is, it’s never too late for you to start your journey of achieving your goals.
 
There are 5 steps to achieving your goals, but most people only complete the first three steps.
 
Here they are:
 
Step #1:  Goals must be well thought out and specific.
 
What do you want to accomplish in your real estate business?   If you’ve not been successful with goal setting in the past, don’t overdo it on the first attempt.  Make it a manageable goal that with a little hard work you can achieve it.  Don’t just come up with the first idea in your mind.  Figure out if it fits in with your core values and philosophies.  If it doesn’t, you’ll be miserable and it most likely won’t happen.
 
Step #2:  Goals must be written down.
 
Once you’ve determined what goals you want to strive for, then you must write them down.  You can’t just keep them in your head.  It’ll never work.  You’ll forget all about them. 

Step #3:  Goals must have a deadline for each step.
 
If you don’t have a timeline for each step, then it’s nothing more than a wish list.  With no deadline, there’s no commitment to follow through to the end, where you could have achieved it.  Set reasonable time frames for completing each step.  Again, don’t go crazy and think you can do something in 3 days, if in reality, it’ll take 7 - 10 days.  Don’t set yourself up for failure!
 
Now, there are 2 more steps to bringing your goals to reality, but these are the 2 toughest parts of goal setting.  Why?  Because what’s easy to do is also easy not to do.
 
The enemies of a goal setter are:  Perfectionism & Distractions.
 
Don’t try to be perfect in what you’re doing.  If you mess up or don’t get something done on time, stop and re-focus.  Ask yourself “How can I do this better?” and re-commit yourself right away to doing it better.  Reassign a new completion date.
 
Distractions are every day battles that you’ll have with yourself.  There will be steps that you don’t want to do and so you’ll try to come up with other things to do, like putting out fires in your business or start doing ‘busy’ work.  You must fight through these urges.
 
Step #4:  Goals require sacrifice.
 
If you’ve set some meaningful goals that will become a major change in your life, you are going to have to make some sacrifices in order to achieve them.  We only have 24 hours in a day, yet it’s easy to lose track of several hours every day…watching TV, spending time on the computer, playing a recreational team sport, etc.  What are you willing to give up now to achieve your goals in the near future?
 
Step #5:  Goals must be reviewed daily.
 
One of the ways to create a burning desire is to constantly remind yourself of what the prize is at the end of the journey.  Don’t think about the daily grind of what you have to do each day.  Stop and close your eyes.  Imagine your reward, feel it with your mind.  It’s really amazing what your mind can
do.  Post your goals on your desk, your bathroom mirror, your kitchen refrigerator, in your car.  They may be written down or even more powerful are pictures. 
 
Steps #4 and #5 are the hardest ones, because you and I are creatures of habit.  When setting new goals, they are usually NOT congruent with our daily mindsets and routines, so we have to go through a period of change.
 
Why is it that most people make new year’s resolutions each year, just to have them forgotten or out of mind in a matter of a few days or weeks.
 
If you aren’t going to have the persistence to forge ahead when times get tough, don’t waste your time coming up with some goals in the first place.
 
If you’re serious, sit down and take the time to really figure out what you want to achieve, make a plan and just do it.  

Someone once told me “Life’s not a dress rehearsal.  You only get one life and each day that goes by is forever gone, never to be repeated.” 
 
What will you do to change your life and business for the better?

Have a safe and happy New Year!

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Posted in Goal Setting | 1 Comment »