Can you believe we are here again at the beginning of the year? Now is the time that most of us sit down and write down our goals for the year, both personal and business. However, what can we do to ensure that our goals materialize in the areas that we want to improve, and become actual habits to transform the way we live and thrive in business? This year, I will do a deep dive into how to create the habits to transform your career, with the help of four renowned experts.
Let’s start with James Clear, who, for me, is the father of positive habit creation with his revelational book Atomic Habits, published in 2018. I have adopted so many of his ideas successfully that they are now second nature for me. Here are three of my favorite tips from him that will help you this year.
James Clear, Atomic Habits
Whatever you want to accomplish has to be systemized first to ensure that this activity will last until it becomes a habit. For example, in business, saying simply “I want to follow up more” will be ineffective. First, you need to master your CRM, how you enter your notes, grade your leads, and then how you systematically follow up. Research shows that New Home buyers often look for 8 to 10 months for new homes. Let’s say that you want to dedicate yourself to following up with these “Golden Aged Leads”, and you have decided to block your calendar twice a week for two hours each time to accomplish this weekly goal of setting appointments, which would be an excellent plan. Before you start reaching out to these aged leads, you have to create a system of “Priming the Pump” and set up your leads at the end of the day before, so that when you begin your follow up regiment, there are enough leads in front of you to make this follow-up time worthwhile.
Decide on the system you need to create to accomplish your new habit.
James Clear discusses combining activities that you want to turn into habits. For example, I decided a few years ago that I needed to exercise more, and also that I would like to read more business and motivation books, to feed my brain with healthy information every day. I have managed to combine these two activities, and six mornings a week I go for a 45 to 60 minute walk, with our mini Berna doodle Bailey, and listen to a book on Audible. By stacking these two habits, both my body and brain are in much better shape. Check out a small sample of my listening list:
Decide on the activities that you can stack to create effective habits in 2026.
James Clear
Clear also states that getting 1% better makes you 37 times better in a year, and that tiny habits build systems for either massive growth or decline.
This year, dedicate yourself to improve 1% every day in the direction of your goals and dreams.
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Another expert in the area of transformation and development is Daniel Pink, author of “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.” My next four tips, are four of Pink's rules for accomplishing new goals:
Don’t take on too many new goals at once. Pick out one to three activities that you would like to change and focus on, instead of overwhelming yourself by taking on too many changes and then giving up and doing nothing. Instead, select a few key goals and truly commit yourself. As Dr. Barry Schwartz discussed in the Paradox of Choice, “Too much choice can cause paralysis, not liberation.”
What are your three major goals for 2026? Take a moment to write them down now.
To be effective, a goal has to be specific. For example, if your personal goal is to lose weight in the new year, you need to be specific and label how much weight exactly, and how you will get there. Likewise, in sales, we could say that our goal is to simply sell more homes, however this is far too general to be effective. Instead, decide on your goal of how many sales you would like to make, and then also what your conversion ratio will need to be to accomplish your goal.
I coach so many teams across North America, and we delve deep into prospecting and driving in qualified traffic. Frequently, I hear salespeople say they need more Realtor ® sales, or Referrals, or community events. Either one is a terrific target, however you have to be specific. I coach an excellent salesperson named Kim, who has shown transformational growth over the last 12 months by committing to tangible specifics to help her accomplish her sales goals. Such as one Realtor presentation per month, and a specific number of deposits and sales every month. This radical focus is now paying huge dividends for Kim with the consistency of her sales. By the way, I am very proud of Kim’s focus and commitment, as well as her well-deserved results.
Decide on the steps you need to accomplish your goals, write them out, and commit to them.
For goals to be effective, they have to be measurable, and you have to either hold yourself accountable or engage an accountability partner. For example, there are provable steps in the sales process that, when you follow them every time, you make more sales. With the many sales teams I work with, every January we focus on these activities and break them down to monthly and weekly levels so that we can ensure we are on track early in the year, and if not, we can self-correct. Here is the culmination of these activities in a simple chart.
If you would like my booklet that I update yearly, which describes this goal-setting formula in more detail, then please email me at Roland@newhomesalesplus.com and write "GOAL SETTING BOOKLET" in the subject line.
One of my superstar management teams, Paula and Ryan at Robuck Homes, made the above form into an Excel spreadsheet, and it works wonderfully to help the team focus on sales activities, increase sales, and predict future success by simple measurements.
Also, choose an accountability partner with whom you help each other stay focused and on track.
Daniel Pink reminds us that our subconscious can’t implement “don’ts”, instead we have to focus on “do’s”. For example, if your goal is to eat more healthily and to lose weight, you wouldn’t just say “I will not eat junk food anymore”, instead you should state: “I will replace junk food with fresh fruit and vegetables.”
When it relates to professional goals, make bold statements and commit to the activities that you will engage in to create long-term sales success.
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Dr. Huberman is a neuroscientist, Stanford Professor, and host of a popular podcast, “The Huberman Lab," where he focuses on science-based tools for health and peak personal and professional performance. I have added him to my list of must-listen-to weekly podcasts when I go for my daily “Habit Stacking” walks. Here are a few of his goal-setting tips to incorporate this year.
Dr. Huberman recommends that goals of moderate difficulty are the most effective. If the goals are too easy, they won't impact change, and if they are too lofty and unachievable, then you may give up too quickly and become discouraged. For those who remember their fairy tales from their childhood, this would be like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, where Goldilocks always selects the middle choice of either Porridge (oatmeal in the USA), chairs, and then finally the middle bed.
Decide on a goal that you could split into three levels of difficulty, so that you can aim for the middle goal.
So, I have to admit this concept really challenged my perspective, as I am a natural-born optimist and live in a world of unicorns and rainbows. For decades, I have visualized the success I have been seeking, even creating vision boards with images of my goals manifested.
However, a newer, more pragmatic approach is to do the opposite and imagine what failure would feel like. This engages our fear center in our limbic system, known as the amygdala. Experts like Huberman say this exploration of failure is far more impactful and will significantly increase your achievement results.
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Lastly, a word of wisdom from the sales training guru and master sales coach, Tony Robbins.
Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins enforces that your goals will only become tangible when you write them down and add them to your calendar. So take your new goals and activities and commit to them in writing with dates and times for implementation.
Here is a recap of my top ten tips to accomplish your goals and transformation in 2026.
I hope these top ten tips will help guide and motivate you, so that you can transform your career and life in 2026.
By Roland Nairnsey, President of New Home Sales Plus
CELL: 561-236-2400 | EMAIL: Roland@newhomesalesplus.com