Setting and Achieving Your Goals for Your Business and Your Life – by BPE Law’s founder and President Steve Beede

Recently I turned 66, significant as far as Medicare and Social Security are concerned, but in the the bigger scheme of life, just a milestone to evaluate where I’ve come from, where I’m going, and how’s the journey been.  A friend recently asked me how I go about setting and achieving goals for BPE Law and for my personal life.  After much thought, I put the following observations and ideas down on paper. Hopefully he – and you  – will find it helpful.  If so, please feel free to pass it on.

As many of you know, on December 18th, Congress passed and the President signed a 2000 page Spending Bill which included a Goal which is near and dear to the real estate industry… Debt Forgiveness Tax Relief was extended through 2016, although only at the Federal level, not California. Government often gets lost in conflicting goals but somehow, some important goals get achieved.

We too face similar challenges in setting and achieving our own goals be it to start or grow your business, or build a fulfilling life while being available to clients 24/7, or knock off those bucket list items that you’ve dreamed about.  Here are some of the ideas I use in my professional and personal life to get things done:

For your Business – Do a SWOT Analysis.
Almost every year, all of us at BPE Law sit down and analyze: 1) our Strengths; 2) our Weaknesses; 3) our Opportunities; and 4) our Threats. This SWOT Analysis is used to determine how we’re doing and what we can do better. We then prioritize the results into Goals and designate action items to get them accomplished. One of the most valuable parts of this process is finding out who is really engaged in growing the business and learning ideas and concerns that you may have never thought about.  Although I founded our firm over 20 years ago, I can trace most if not all of our growth to the lessons learned and the goals set and achieved through using the SWOT Analysis and to the new leaders of our Company who have emerged through the process.

For your Personal Life – Make a Bucket List
In 1996, my wife Ann brought a form back from a real estate brokers’ training Seminar. It was entitled “100 Things I want to do Before I Die”.  We’d never thought of doing this before and we’d never heard of the term “Bucket List”. So, we sat down separately and each listed those things which we wanted to do. Incredibly, we both picked Raft the Colorado River as our #42 (we still haven’t done it).  As we shared these Goals, we both realized that this could be a guide for building a wonderful life and helping each other achieve our dreams.  And so it has been.  Towards the end of each year we evaluate what we’ve accomplished and check them off the list… such as paragliding in the Alps, playing golf at St. Andrews, and playing with our grandchildren.  Then, over a glass of wine, we map out our Goals for the coming year.  2016 includes going to Australia, going deep sea fishing, mountain biking down Northstar, and of course rafting the Colorado.

Make your Goals SMART
If you’re like most people, when you get excited about something it’s natural to set high expectations and lots of goals.  Achieving them can be something else.  The best Goals however meet five criterion; they are: 1) Specific; 2) Measurable; 3) Achievable; 4) Realistic; and 5) Time Bound.  For example, if you’re 60 years old, setting a Goal to walk on the Moon may not be SMART but walking the Pacific Coast Trail might be doable.

Keep Them in Front of You
In 1937, author Napoleon Hill wrote his famous book “Think and Grow Rich”,which chronicled his 20 years of interviewing the world’s most successful people to learn the secret of their success. One of the most important principal’s he discovered was that successful people write their goals down and read them at the beginning and end of each day. This keeps their goals at the center of their attention and compels them to focus on the achievement.

Make a Decision
Perhaps the best advice I have ever received on accomplishing your Goals is this which came from a long time Toastmasters friend: “Make a Decision, the rest is just logistics”.  By setting a Goal and deciding to achieve it, you will add excitement, vibrancy, and success to your business and to your life.

I hope that you will find this Article helpful in your business and in your life.  Please feel free to pass it on to anyone that you think may benefit from these ideas.  As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can contact me at sjbeede@bpelaw.com or if you need a consultation for any legal issues, you can call our office at  (916) 966-2260 for an appointment at our Gold River headquarters or our Lincoln satellite office.

This article is not intended to be legal advice, and should not be taken as legal advice.  Every case requires review of specific facts and history, and a formal agreement for service.  Please feel free to contact us if you need legal advice and are interested in seeing if we can help you