By Janet Fetterman, Director of Real Estate

Here we are again, another year has gone by and it is a great time for most of us to reflect on our past year and to plan and set New Year’s goals and resolutions. As I sit in the Sales Center here at Golden Ocala I’m working on my personal as well as company sales goals for 2016.

If you’ve wondered why in the past you have fallen short of reaching your New Year’s goals or keeping your resolutions, perhaps these tips will help you in 2016. This is a proven method of goal setting that will greatly enhance the probability of success.

Think and act S.M.A.R.T. First of all, you will need to write down your goals. This engages more of your brain and body and studies show that the written goal (even a poorly formed goal) will have a greater success rate than the non-written goal. So, grab your pencil and paper and get ready!

S.M.A.R.T. is the acronym for the following.

S = Specific: Be specific, ask yourself “What do I really want.” The more details, the better. Also, it is important that this specificity be truly what you want and not what you “should want” or “want to want.” Being true to yourself is authentic and honest and will engage all of your brain power to unconsciously bring your desire from dream state to reality.

M = Measurable: Goals need to be quantitative and gauge-able. If you think of your goal attainment as a game, just like in a game there are markers for progress, usually a time period and a way to know when you won. A goal that is measurable may be broken down into sizeable chunks of time and performance milestones so as to not overwhelm you. Remember, if eating the whole elephant is your goal, you will still need to do that, one bite at a time.

A= Attainable: If I plan on being a millionaire by tomorrow morning, short of winning the lottery, it isn’t going to happen ( and even winning the lottery would require the action of buying a ticket). We need to have the skill set, the plan and the appropriate amount of time for the plan to come to fruition. Remember, only that guy Jack planted a bean seed one day got a bean stalk that night. Jack and the Beanstalk was a great read, but it was a fairytale after all.

R= Realistic: It is a great philosophy to shoot for the moon so at least you land in the stars, but all too often our human nature loses its momentum and desire when something is too far out of reach. However, if my goal is to have a million plus dollars in three or four years in the bank – this is doable and still a challenge.

T.= Timely Plan it, work the plan, evaluate progress and make adjustments to continue moving forward. In an east-coast to west-coast flight, pilots file flight plans and based on weather, air traffic and aircraft performance; they need to be flexible to adjust their plans according to conditions and other outside factors to safely reach the other coast. Your goal is no different; we don’t exist in a vacuum, and we must keep our eyes on: 1) the conditions and circumstances, 2) the goal in sight, and 3) staying the course to reach our goal.

I hope this helps you for this year’s planning. From the Sales Center at Golden Ocala, we wish you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016.