The end of the year comes with holiday festivities and celebrations. But it's also a time for reflecting on the previous year while you plan for the one ahead. While many people may make New Year's resolutions, they sometimes don't make them specific enough to make them last.

If you're thinking of making any professional resolutions for your real estate career, we're here to help. In this blog, we'll share some tips on how to make feasible goals to help you succeed in 2024.

Examine Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Start with some introspection. What are the best and worst parts of your real estate game? Is there a particular step in the process where things go wrong?

While you're introspecting, break down your past performance into hard numbers and use them to predict future performance. Real estate agents are inherently ambitious individuals, but one of the biggest mistakes you can make in goal setting is measuring yourself to an impossible standard. Aim for incremental increases and set stretch goals if you want to strive further.

Get SMART

The most successful type of goal you can set is a SMART one – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Sensitive.

"Close more home sales" is too broad and unwieldy to be actionable. There are too many ways it can be tackled, and it's hard to recognize when you've succeeded. Have you met your goal if you sell one more house than last year? Two more?

It's better to choose a goal that will give you a specific course of action to take and a measurable finishing line to cross. But you also need to make sure that the goal you set is achievable – not unrealistically large – and relevant to your ultimate goals – like making more money. It's also best if you set yourself a deadline – or better yet, a bunch of mini-deadlines that will help you pace yourself.

Examples of good SMART goals for a real estate agent include:

Spend x hours per week on prospecting activities.
Improve leads conversion x% per quarter.
Make x sales calls per day.
Schedule x listing appointments per month.
Convert x% of listing appointments to clients within six months.
Close x listings per quarter.
Make $x by December 1st of next year.

Consider Your Professional Context

In a seasonal and cyclical business like real estate, you aren't the only variable in your success. There are natural rhythms to the market on a yearly and multi-yearly basis.

Part of ensuring that your goals are achievable is to take this into account. Consider the seasonal rhythm of home sales when you set your deadlines. Take the anticipated state of the market into account when you choose your targets.

Stay Smart with Online Real Estate Courses

While you're setting stretch goals, don't forget about the basics of keeping your license. Whether you're trying to finish your initial pre-license or post-license courses or just trying to meet your continuing education requirements for your license renewal, we can help!

Our courses are online and self-paced for your convenience. You can earn state-accepted credits whenever and wherever your hustle allows. Enroll today!

Written and Published by: VanEd