By Chris Knoppe, Ohio Rehab Loans

Now that the cold weather is here and the holidays are upon us, it’s a great time to reflect upon the year that’s concluding and to start planning for 2009.  Even in the hectic holiday season, it’s well worth taking the time to recap this year’s accomplishments (and failures) and focus on what you hope to achieve in the coming year.  A lot can be learned from pondering what went right & what went wrong in 2008, and building on that knowledge to make your 2009 goals achievable.  This is applicable to both business goals & personal goals.  Amazingly enough, the two are more linked than you would think.

Start by making a list (preferably written) of the accomplishments that you achieved throughout 2008.  Then make a list of things you are not happy about and would like to change.  This often goes hand-in-hand with failed opportunities, unmet goals, or new challenges that were encountered.  Then you must decide what you can realistically accomplish over the next year to shrink the list of negative items & lengthen the list of accomplishments. 

This reflective exercise gives you the base needed to create your list of goals for the upcoming year.  When you list your goals it’s important to be very specific so you know exactly what you are trying to do and can hold yourself accountable for it.  Try and keep the number of goals manageable.  It’s better to have a few very specific & important goals than to have dozens that loose your attention.  

When you write down your goals, it’s common to write a goal without giving deep thought as to HOW you are going to achieve it.  An example of this would be: “I’m going to wholesale at least 4 house in 2009.”  That’s a great goal, but HOW are you going to do that?  You need to think about how you will find motivated sellers, how you will evaluate potential deals, and how you will find buyers for the deal.   Another example is: “I’m going to buy, fix, and sell 3 houses this year.”  Again, another great goal, but it’s missing the HOW.  How will you find your deals, what criteria will you use to evaluate potential houses, how will you fund the projects (answer- Ohio Rehab Loans!), what contractors will you use to complete the repairs, and what is your strategy to sell it quickly for a profit? 

As you can see from these examples, setting goals is not quite as simple or easy as it may first sound.  But it’s the serious thought behind your goals that’s really important and will make them achievable.  So sit down on one of these cold days, and think long & hard about what you want from 2009.  And once you have a solid, well thought out list of goals, don’t throw it in the desk drawer and forget about it.  Review your goals once a month to gauge your progress (or as often as you can- daily if you want).  If you find that certain goals seem to be floating out of reach, have another reflective exercise to figure out what you need to do to reach that goal.  Allow your list to act as a motivator to get what you want from life.

Comments or questions can be directed to Chris.Knoppe@OhioRehabLoans.com. For more information about Ohio Rehab Loans or to read past articles, visit www.OhioRehabLoans.com or call 614-433-0570.