Have you ever set a goal and not achieved it? If we can achieve our goals, almost anything is possible.
SCORE recently attended a meeting where Ian Brannon, a local mortgage loan officer with Nova Home Loans, presented a story of how he achieved his goals. The lessons we learned from his presentation apply to every business owner.
For many years, Brannon was a mortgage loan officer with a large national bank and was an average loan officer by his own account. Then he moved to Nova and began working with a mentor, Jon Volpe the CEO. Brannon found the keys to achieving his goals was a three step process.
First of all you have to know what you really want. You have to really want something if you are going to invest the time and energy to get it. For Brannon, the goal was to open a new branch for Nova. To accomplish this, he would have to successfully manage a team of loan officers and consistently grow his business.
Secondly, what are you willing to do, to get what you want? According to Brannon, itโs all about the extra sacrifices you are willing to make. Are you willing to reduce your pay to invest in the systems, processes and people you need to take it to another level? Are you willing to get up a couple of hours earlier every day? Are you willing to make short-term sacrifices to achieve your long- term goals?
Finally, you need to be coachable. Brannon says you need to be humble enough to know you donโt know everything, and that you can learn from others. You must be willing to do things you donโt want to do. Hire business consultants and other experts to teach you things you donโt already know.
Try these tips as they have worked well for Brannon. He is opening a new branch for Nova Home Loans in January. Brannon can be reached at 520-577-4761.
