My girl got a book of questions for us to answer every day of the year that has 5 spaces to answer each question over the course of 5 years. At first I thought it was cute, then whenever I'd go out of town on tour or something and we got behind it felt like a chore. Then 2 days ago we were doing our questions and one of them was "What was unusual today". Pretty abstract, but It turns out a year ago that day I started real estate school! It was a nice reminder of what I had actually accomplished in the past year. A lot of people have more profitable first years that I did (even though I didn't actually get the paperwork back until March, so It's too soon to say anything about my first whole year), but considering I spent a good part of the year traveling out of town, I had a reminder to actually reflect on what I managed to accomplish in 2017 as a whole. 2017 actually may have been one of the most productive years of my life and it was the first time I wrote my goals down and made a plan to hit them.
Now it's time to really get serious.
I'm a big fan of playing pool. I've noticed when I meet someone at a bar who thinks they're really good, there's a 50/50 chance they even know enough about the game to know if they're any good. But when I go to a pool hall where they do APA league, anyone who's above the lowest 2 ratings is pretty darn good. The difference is the people who join a league keep track of every hit they make at the pool table. They're surrounded by people who can offer advice. They have learned how to not make the same mistake twice. When they practice they line up their shots and readjust when something doesn't work. They learn how to FOCUS and They're METHODICAL! The guys who think they're the shiznits at the pub smack the balls around with other people who don't take the time to learn from every shot. They don't surround themselves with people who they can learn from. They don't set goals for their stats. They float around hacking their way to embarrassment when they come across a schooled player.
It might take a little more time out of my day but I'm going to start treating every priority in my life like I treated my pool game.
Setting goals
Making a plan
Surround myself with people who I can learn from
Tracking my progress
Learn from set backs
Rewarding myself for accomplishments
Try it!
Start Today!