The starting of a new year is the perfect time for us to set our goal for next 12 months. There are many ways to set your goals but we like to follow the concept of S.M.A.R.T. as it has been working well for all the team members. S.M.A.R.T. is the acronyms for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

For this post, we will use Real Estate goal setting as an example.

S – Specific

When you define a goal, you should try to be as specific as possible, up to the level that makes more sense and benefits you the most. Super-specific does not necessarily mean better. For example, we do not want to set a goal “I want to invest in real estate this year” because it is too vague. At the same time, we do not want to set a goal of “I want to invest in 25,050 sq ft of land by 1 pm of June 2, 2020 because that is too specific and the details will not benefit you except to set you up with higher chance of failure. Instead, try to set a goal of “I want to invest in 20 doors this year.” It is a goal that contains a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) but yet gives you room on exactly how to satisfy that KPI.

M – Measurable

Following through with our previous sample goal of “I want to invest in 20 doors this year,” the KPI of “20” gives you something concrete to measure. You may invest in 20 single families, or 10 duplexes, or 5 quads, or 1 20-unit apartment building – the possibility is endless, but yet you can easily measure as you progress, and you know exactly whether you hit the goal or not.

A – Achievable

Even though we are all human beings, 1 goal does not fit all shapes and sizes at all. We need to tailor our goal to be challenging, but more importantly, achievable. That means setting a goal of “I want to invest in 1 door this year” can be a challenging yet achievable for me, but for you it may be “I want to invest in 20 doors this year.” There is no need to “compare” your goal against your peers, what is more important is you set a goal that is challenging yet achievable based on your own unique circumstances, and you focus on reaching that goal.

R – Relevant

Our lives are not 1-sided so it is reasonable to have many different goals for different parts of your life. Though, when setting a goal for a specific area, you should set it to be relevant. For example, you should avoid setting goals like “I want to buy 5 cars as a result of investing in real estate.” Even though there is the keyword of “real estate” in the goal, which may seem specific, measurable, and achievable, in realty this goal is not relevant with real estate at all! In simple terms, the KPI that you define in your goal should be directly related and relevant to real estate.

T – Time-bound

Last but not least, your goal should be bound to a timeframe. Using our sample goal of “I want to invest in 20 doors this year”, the “this year” clearly indicates you have this 1 year to accomplish this goal. Of course, the timeframe needs to be achievable; and as a matter of fact, all 5 elements of S.M.A.R.T. need to work together hand-in-hand in order for you to maximize your chance of reaching your goal!

Goal setting is a crucial part of our planning, if you adhere to the S.M.A.R.T. method we believe goal setting can be a straight-forward and rewarding exercise to do year after year.