CRE Brokers 4-Step Goal Setting for 2026

Welcome to 2026

This is the part of the year that is supposed to feel different.

And here’s something most people misunderstand about this moment.

If you are genuinely changing how you think, act, and operate this year, you should not expect to feel good right now.

You should expect to feel uncomfortable.

That discomfort is a signal. It means you are breaking routine, experimenting, and taking risks you were not taking before. That’s a good thing.

In 2026, the brokers who earn more commissions, create more income, and buy back more freedom will be the ones willing to tolerate discomfort now in exchange for momentum later.

This week, I want to give you a simple four-step goal-setting exercise to set the year up properly.

Step 1: Define your BHAG for 2026

If you have never heard the term before, BHAG stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

A BHAG is one goal that sits right on the edge of what feels possible and what feels completely out of reach.

For us, our 2025 BHAG was the Global CRE Broker Virtual Summit.  It took me away from everything else for six straight months, and we did it, and the return was as high as the experience.

It’s not something you already know how to do.

It doesn’t fit neatly inside your current routine.

It should make you hesitate before you write it down.

If you don’t already have one, start here:

If everything went right this year, what result would genuinely change your life or business?

Write down the number, outcome, or milestone that feels slightly uncomfortable to commit to.

Then pause.

Notice the resistance that shows up. That reaction is your signal that you are close.

Step 2: Make it uncomfortable on purpose

Now take that BHAG and compress the timeline.

If your goal is December 2026, move it to June.

If it is $100,000 in commissions, make it $200,000.

If it is $1,000,000, make it $2,000,000.

This idea comes straight from the Theory of Constraints.

When the time horizon shrinks, inefficiencies surface. Busy work disappears. Priorities sharpen. You are forced to identify what truly matters and what must change.

Bill Gates once said:

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

I prefer a different framing.

Most people dramatically overestimate what they can get done in a week or a month.

At the same time, they massively underestimate what they can build in a single year when their focus, habits, and decisions are aligned.

That tension between short-term frustration and long-term possibility is exactly where a BHAG belongs.

If you want this year to be different, choose a goal that forces you to become different.

Step 3: Make it visible

Your BHAG should not live in your head.

Write it somewhere you will see every single day.

For me, it lives on a whiteboard in my office. I see it constantly. It is impossible to ignore.

This matters because visibility creates pressure. Pressure creates follow-through. When you see the goal daily, your decisions begin to align with it.

Step 4: Share it with me

Yes, please reply and share your BHAG for 2026.

(I won’t share it with anyone.)

There is real research behind this. People who write down and share their goals are significantly more likely to achieve them than those who keep them private. Accountability changes behavior.

What we are doing on our end

We are going to do everything we can this year to support you.

New ways to help you think, plan, and execute at a higher level.

But more on that soon.

Reply to this email and tell me your BHAG for 2026.

Let’s make this a year you do not look back on and say, “I played it safe.”