Making It Stick in 2009

Welcome to the New Year! We’ve made it through the month of January. If you are like me, January started out with good intentions. Resolutions and goals abounded. How am I doing so far? How are you doing so far? You are now a month into the year and have you been able to stay on track?

Some of you may say “yes”. My guess is that many of you say “not quite”. Many of you may have made a resolution to lose weight or get in better shape. In fact, the health clubs are full of well-wishers the first part of the year. My husband, Dan, and I used to be regulars at the West Cobb YMCA. Come January we would crack jokes about the New Year’s Resolution-ers. One year we watched a woman on the sit-up bench doing crunches while candy fell out of her sweatshirt’s pocket. Needless to say, she made it to the gym for a week or two and we never saw her again.

Everyone has good intentions. But did you ever wonder why people have such a hard time keeping up with the changes they commit to make in a new year? We promise to make change but after the first few weeks of January or early February the resolutions go away, we struggle with the goals, and we go backwards.

Why is it so hard for people to make lasting change in their lives? One reason is that the change we make is too radical. We fear that we can’t maintain the change so we don’t even commit to the resolution. Or, perhaps we fear that there are too many unresolved issues in our past to change or overcome. We may have convinced ourselves that it is too late to change. We are already set in our ways or we are not willing to put in the work or sacrifice to make the change. Maybe we are looking for a quick fix.


So how do you make real change in your life that will last? How do you make it stick?


#1. Focus on decisions that could really add value to your life. The first step to making goals that last is to focus on change that adds real value to your life. So often we try to change things that don’t add real value to our lives. Strive for something earnest. Focus on things that outlast your life. Material things are all good and well but will not bring true happiness to your life. Your focus should be on “love”. Love for your body, for your family, for your friends, and for your spiritual life. For instance, rather than focusing on fitting into those skinny jeans, focus on how much better you will physically feel, how it will improve your self esteem, and how it will prolong your life to share with those you love.

#2. Get tough on the things that cause setbacks. You can’t keep valuable goals if these things go unchecked in your life. There will always be opposition. Our own weakness and sometimes your friends, family, etc will try to pull us backwards. All of us have things we struggle with. We need to ask ourselves what is in our life right now that is causing us to constantly have a setback. Sometimes the opposition may be rooted in Pride. It is important to us to have a clear perception of what is holding us back, recognize it and have a plan to overcome it. Get honest with the problems in our lives in 2009 so that in 2010 we are not dealing with the same issues.


3. We have to decide in advance that we are not going to quit. This is a lifelong process. It is progression – not perfection. You will have some victories and failures along the way. You can never give up trying to perfect yourself and you cannot be afraid to fail once in awhile. Our lives need to be in a constant state of change. The key is to NOT quit. Refuse to give up.

4. Tackle change in two degree shifts. One of the problems with our goals is that we set ourselves up for failure because we bite off more than we can handle. We try to do a one-eighty. Very few people can do that. If you really want to make lasting change in your life you need to tackle change in two degree shifts. For instance, what if you could make a two degree shift to begin lead generation? Maybe you start with just 2 phone calls a day and build it to 3 hours a day. This could be the tipping point to success in your business. The little decisions we make on a day to day basis have immense results over time. Focused intensity over time leads to results.


5. Find someone to help you along the way. No one succeeds alone. Find a buddy to help you along the way. Whether that is your life partner, spouse, friend, coach, or work colleague find someone to hold you accountable and to encourage you along the way.

6. Write down your goals and keep them in front of you at all times. Most people never take the time to write out what they want to achieve. They will say that it is all “up here”. The problem with this kind of thinking is that we are constantly revising and changing what we focus on. And thus, the real things that matter fall to the way side. Write it down. It is rewarding and empowering to cross your achieved goals off the list.


As a Market Center we have some Great Goals for 2009. The 2009 Agent Leadership Council and your Leadership team is leading the charge to not only make Keller Williams Atlanta Perimeter the #1 real estate office in Dunwoody, but the #1 market center in the Southeast Region – and beyond. We have established specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time specific goals to make this happen. Our goal is to add 50 new faces, add 50 happy cappers, and
have 50% productivity by the end of 2009. 50-50-50.

Our vision statement is simple –

“We are here for you. Wherever you are.”