2027 Doesn’t Start on January 1

It’s that time of year again. We are heading into the fourth quarter, which means it is time to start looking at how this year is going to finish and, just as importantly, how we want next year to begin.

For a lot of us, fourth quarter is business planning season. This is when we take an honest look at the year we’ve had. What did we accomplish? What are we incredibly proud of? Where did we grow? What worked really well? And where do we know we can do better?

I love this process because business planning is not just about picking a bigger number for next year. It is about taking inventory of what actually happened this year and using that information to make better decisions going forward.

What worked that we should double down on? What produced results that we can repeat? What took a tremendous amount of time or money without giving us much in return? What did we try that simply did not work? Some things deserve another attempt with a better strategy. Other things need to be eliminated altogether.

That kind of reflection matters because 2027 does not magically begin on January 1.

For those of us in real estate, much of the business we generate in November and December will not actually close until January. That means we really have about a month and a half left to push hard toward our 2026 goals before our activity begins building the pipeline that will carry us into 2027.

So yes, there is still time to finish this year strong. There is still time to make the calls, have the conversations, follow up with the people sitting in our database, secure the listings, write the offers and do everything we can to move our current goals across the finish line.

But at the same time, we need to start thinking ahead.

I am hosting a business planning clinic in October because I believe November is too late to start figuring out what you want from the following year. By then, we should already know where we are going. We should know our goals, understand the numbers behind them and have a plan for the daily and weekly activities that will get us there.

And those goals need to be realistic. Ambitious, absolutely. But they also need to be built around actual data, capacity and behavior. Saying you want to double your business sounds great. Understanding exactly how many conversations, appointments, listings, contracts and closings it will take to get there is where a goal becomes a business plan.

More importantly, we are building a plan that does not get tucked into a folder and forgotten by February. You will leave with a workbook that becomes something you can come back to throughout the year and ask yourself, am I actually on track? Are my activities producing the results I planned for? If not, where do I need to adjust?

We are also going to talk about accountability. Who is going to know what you said you wanted to accomplish? Who is going to ask whether you are doing the things you committed to doing? We need accountability partners, systems and regular opportunities to check our progress so we stay aligned with the goals we set long after the excitement of business planning day wears off.

And I am excited to share that the clinic has officially been approved for continuing education. In addition to walking away with a completed workbook, a plan for 2027 and a structure for accountability throughout the year, attendees will earn three (3) hours of elective continuing education credit.

That is the part of this process I am passionate about. I love helping people take a year apart, look at it objectively and figure out what the numbers are actually telling them. Celebrate what went well. Learn from what didn’t. Identify the opportunities. Make adjustments. Then build a plan that is specific enough that you know exactly what you need to do when Monday morning comes and structured enough that you can measure whether you are actually doing it.

We still have plenty of work to do in 2026, and I fully intend to give these remaining weeks everything we’ve got. But we are also going to start building 2027 now.

Because a strong year rarely starts with a New Year’s resolution. It starts months earlier with an honest review, a clear plan, real accountability and the discipline to keep checking the plan and executing long after January 1.