What is your escape plan? No, I don't mean for summer vacation. I am talking something much more important: What is your plan for when you will no longer be working full time in real estate? You have one, right? If you do -- Hallelujah! And you can go off and read something else. But, if that's not the case, this article is for you.

As a coach, I often help clients create their business plans. I have found most people usually approach this on a yearly basis with a 1 year plan (if at all). While a one year plan is a necessary part of giving yourself a structure and foundation, a 5 year plan and an escape plan should also be part of this process. Some people find thinking that far out is hard. They feel they don't have a crystal ball and don't have any idea how to project where things will go.

The trick is to approach the envisioning from the standpoint of what you intend to create rather than a defined measure for success or failure that needs everything in place right now. Just the action of making a choice about what you want (Something! Anything!) will stir up your thought processes & lighten it up.

You can then imagine what measures you'd want if it were ideal. One benefit of this approach is that you don't already have to know how to produce all the results (that will come later) or feel that it is etched in stone and can't change it as the myriad of conditions change in your life. You only need to take responsibility for choosing what you want! Your business plans and escape plans at their best are living, changing works in progress.

For the purpose of this article, we are not going to address the one and 5 year plans. The escape plan is a way to begin at the end. The baby boomer generation is heading into what have traditionally been the retirement years. As baby-boomers have redefined every decade, they are redefining retirement. Traditional retirement at 65 has ceased to be the standard. I believe each of us has a different picture of what we'd do if independently wealthy. There is no one formula that fits for everyone. What is important, though, is that you examine and answer that question for yourself, "What will my escape plan look like?" Set aside an afternoon or other time when you can consciously make some choices and decisions. By making this a conscious creation instead of an accidental outcome, your power to get what you want, when you want it is significantly increased. Truth be told….as Napoleon Hill said, "What you can conceive, you can achieve." You will need to review your present finances and may need the help of a financial planner or one of the online sites that will help you plug in numbers to get the answers to the questions below. Use these questions to get started:

1. What does your net worth need to be for you to feel financially free?

2. What is your net worth right now?

3. By when will you have the net worth that defines your financial freedom number?

4. What is the gap between where you are now and that number?

5. What is working to get you there?

6. What else could be added?

7. What radical change needs to happen?

8. Who do you need to be part of the team to get there?

Once you have this information, then you can start to do some thinking about how you want to spend your life between now and then and how it will look like when you are working because you want to rather than because you have to.

Here are the areas to also consider:

1. Once financially free, how much time do you want to be working in your real estate business?

2. How many hours a week/weeks per year are you working now?

3. Are there any changes you want to make in the time you devote to your business between now and when you are financially free?

4. What strategy could you use to work less?

5. Who do you know that could help you that you are not taking advantage of?

When you have spent the time to actually dig into this and think through what you want, you are in a perfect place to use this to expand your plans for an Ideal Escape Plan.

Published: August 23, 2010

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Joeann Fossland ePRO, GRI, MCC, PMN, SRS is a dynamic, international speaker and business coach. She personally coaches a small number of extraordinary agents who want to leverage their production results and have a life they love! She was recognized as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Real Estate in 2008 by Stephan Swanapoel. Subscribe to her free Tuesday Tips, attend Fossland's Forums, free monthly tele-seminars, and find out about classes delivered by email and personal coaching by visiting Joeann.com or email her at . You can also connect at Facebook and Twitter.