Over the next few weeks you will probably begin thinking more about all that you have accomplished in your real estate business in 2002 and what you'd like to do differently in 2003. Even if you've had a phenomenal year in 2002 there are probably still some changes you would like to make in your real estate business next year. And if you've had a less than phenomenal year in the business there may be quite a number of things that you'd definitely like to change.

To assist you in making the changes that will help you to have an even better year in 2003 I'd like to tell you about what I call the "The 9 Important Components of Your Ideal System of Real Estate Brokerage."

These 9 components are as follows:

1. Prospecting
2. Mailing
3. Appointments
4. Exclusive Agreements
5. Transactions
6. People Skills
7. Building Relationships
8. Referrals
9. Continuing Education and Training

If you simply look at these components and rate yourself as to how you're doing on each one on a scale of 1 to 10 this will give you some immediate feedback that will help you to pinpoint the areas of your real estate business that need the most work. Some of these 9 components are activities that you do day-to-day in your real estate business while others represent milestones of accomplishment along the way. And all of them are components that continually interact with each other in the ongoing system of real estate brokerage that becomes your own personal real estate business.

As an agent you want to work to identify the behaviors you are doing that are wasting your time and costing you a lot of money. Sometimes these behaviors can be a little tricky for you to identify on your own because from your perspective you always seem to be busy. But the agent you aspire to be is always busy too......busy doing the activities that are making this person the amounts of money that you would like to be making yourself.

As much as possible you want to have your day-to-day game plan for success in your real estate business become a solid "system" of real estate brokerage. Many agents out there are doing business by the seat of their pants without any great plan of organization to help them to achieve the success they desire in their real estate careers. These agents have become very reactive instead of proactive in their real estate businesses, constantly responding to the demands of their clients and prospects and losing sight of continually doing the activities that will build their businesses to exactly where they want them to be. When you've become reactive instead of proactive in your business you often find yourself at the end of the year wondering, "What the heck happened during this past year in my real estate business?" The good news is that a new year is upon us and you can now choose to do it differently in 2003.

In its simplest form your success in your real estate career comes down to:

1. Your level of people skills
2. The quality of the system of real estate brokerage that you're working day-in and day-out

Ideally you want to find the system that works best for you that also produces predictable, outstanding results for you when you work the system. But again this means that you must become proactive and not reactive in your real estate business, continually making sure that you're on track and working the system that works best for you.