the-abcs-of-real-estate-investing-ken LifeFeeling

Chapter Two: You Gotta Have a Goal
The title of this chapter spells out pretty clearly how I feel about goals and real estate
investment. Having a goal is not optional. Goal setting is step number one in the process. In
this chapter, you’ll learn how to set your goal, what a realistic goal should look like, and set
milestones to achieve it. You’ll come to understand the benefits of goal setting and discover
how “goal power”can be your key to success.
When I first started out, I had a goal. I wanted to be my own boss. I was tired of
working for someone else, and wanted to start some sort of business on my own.
Admittedly, I never actually wrote down my goal in those early days, and I didn’t tell too
many people either. In fact I barely verbalized it to myself. More accurately, I felt it.
It wasn’t until years later that I really understood goal power, the power you feel when
you’ve set a target and you concentrate all your efforts on hitting it. It makes you focused. It
makes you decisive. And ultimately it makes you successful. I don’t know if anyone else
before me has used the term “goal power.” It just seemed to accurately communicate a fact
that’s important right now: that having a goal makes you powerful.
What’s a Goal?
It’s easy to get hung up on terminology. Is that a goal? Is it a vision? Maybe it’s an
objective? Maybe it’s a mission? Forget all that right now. And don’t worry about textbook
definitions. My goal with this book is for it to become the best-selling guide that simplifies
the process of real estate investing by showing you how to find, buy, and manage property
right, and I may as well start with goal setting.
A GOAL IS SOMETHING YOU PLAN TO ACHIEVE
Simply stated, a goal is something you plan to achieve. Maybe your goal is to buy one
investment property in a twelve-month period. Or maybe you want to earn $5,000 per
month in income within two years. You might even set your goal so high that you decide
you want to be the number one rental property owner in your town within five years.
Whatever goal you set, make sure it is something you plan to achieve. Nothing is more
valueless than a goal that sits on a shelf and never receives any action. Those are simply
dreams. There’s no real power in dreams unless they are acted upon.
YOUR GOAL SHOULD BE MEASURABLE
Your goal should be measurable. My goal of wanting to be my own boss wasn’t really a
good goal. As I said, it took me years to learn how to set goals and to take advantage of the
power they harness. A much better goal for me would have included a time limit, say within
one year, to become my own boss, or an earnings level, like earning $75,000 per year.
Goals that are vague are hard to attain and are even harder to stick to. If there is no time
limit, dollar amount, or rank comparison, for example, how will you know you have
“arrived” ? It’s virtually impossible.