Last week I had a call that made me realise that however BIG our goals are, if we don’t have a plan to achieve them, it is highly unlikely we’ll succeed. And if we don’t persist in them, we’ll never reap the rewards of our early investment.

So in this post, I thought I’d share with you some thoughts and reflections I have had on WHY we don’t achieve our goals and HOW to ensure we do. 

1. Know your reason WHY. 

To create £5k, £10k or even more in passive income per month takes doing something IN ADDITION to what you’re already doing. You also have a REASON why you want to do this. Maybe it’s so you can replace your job or to give yourself another income stream. It might be to provide income for your retirement, or capital for your children’s future. Do you know what it is, and have you set this out where you can see it daily? What about a vision board to remind you of your reasons why? Your WHY is a core motivational factor and one worth reminding yourself of regularly.

2. Set a MEASURABLE income figure as your initial goal. Whatever your reason WHY, you will have set yourself a goal in terms of a monthly FIGURE to achieve. This is the first obstacle to achievement that I see with a lot of people. They don’t set a NET INCOME figure that is easy to measure. Unless you set a goal that is CLEAR and measurable, how do you know if (and when) you have achieved it? If you don’t already track your net income, this needs to be one of your first actions to complete. 

3. Set  yourself a deadline to get to your first goal. With no fixed income goal and no deadline, there is no point just being ACTIVE. Some people confuse ACTION with ACHIEVEMENT. Yes, you need to take massive action, but not if that is chasing your tail doing things that waste your time and are irrelevant to your goal. What are the key activities that will make you the most money in the shortest amount of time? Answer this question with truth and honesty and you are on the first very big step to making a shed more money immediately! 

4. ASSESS where you are now and how far away you are from your goal. If you’re currently achieving £1000 per month in passive income from property, and you want to get to £5k per month, the next step to identify is to agree how long you are going to give yourself to achieve another £4k per month.. This is often the hardest step to estimate as it may have taken you many years to get to £1000 net profit per month. Getting 5 times that amount may seem insurmountable! However, if you persist in taking action, and keep pushing forward you’ll experience EXPONENTIAL growth. (More on this below).

For example : My first 7 bed HMO took me 8 months to buy, refurb and rent. My second 7 bed HMO took me 5 months to do the same thing. We are about to embark on another 7 bed HMO in Stoke and the build time is 10 weeks. (However admittedly the purchase took longer due to our investor)! By persisting and continuing to take the right actions, we can now run multiple projects at once. So rather than finishing one project before starting another, we now manage at least three refurbs simultaneously as looking for the next deal and completing the last one. 

5. Write out a PLAN of action. HOW will you achieve your goal of an additional £4k per month – will it be by doing 4 HMOs each giving you £1k. Or 10 mini HMOs giving you £500 per month (or maybe a Joint Venture with another investor). What will you do each month? What will you do each week? What will you do each day? I use the Darren Hardy materials to keep me clear and focused. I have achieved my 90 day goal and my monthly goals so far this year. However, I limit myself to focusing on three goals at a time which makes me much more focused and much more accountable! Ensure that your actions relate to your goals and stay focused on achieving them. 

Remember the law of exponential growth – Exponential growth is one of the most powerful principles in the universe. Having an intimate understanding of how it works can make you a master of money and success. On the most basic level, the principle states that the bigger something is, the faster it grows. So as you get bigger, the faster you will be able to implement and grow.

Take some time NOW to write out your WHY, your GOALS and a PLAN!