Goals Keep Changing - Good or Bad?

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Goals often stay relatively consistent but many people (including me) pivot strategies to achieve those goals. Many times, we won't completely know the medium or longer term strategy until we start taking action in the short term...and then we learn, find answers to unknowns, and pivot as we go. We often want fully formed plans and strategies before we take action because that is in our comfort zone and what we are used to at work and home and, in reality, the plans and strategies can take very different courses once we start. We just have to start!

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Is it possible that you subconsciously change your goals to avoid having to meet them?

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Like @Joe Villeneuve I am curious about how you are defining 'goal'? I use the following definintions for planning. I studied on it a bit when I was writing a business plan in the interest of clarity. What is your definition of a goal? Definitions: Goal- A time bound broad general outcome Objective- A specific measurable outcome that supports a goal Strategy- A broad plan for achieving an objective (and the goal it supports) Tactic- A action used to implement a strategy Policy- A guideline for making decisions: who does what and why, a principal of action ensures consistency and compliance with goals Process- A series of actions to achieve an end (who, what, when) Procedure- step-by-step directions for accomplishing a particular action

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Too many terms. I keep it simple:Goals are always specific and financial. They are based on the total financial needs of the REI. They never change.Strategies, are the ways money is made and deals are formed. They will be different at different stages (timeline) of the plan.Plans, are the financial steps the REI takes along the way to their goals, starting from where they are right now. Each step of the plan is reverse engineered from the financial goals...like prerequisite classes when the goal is a collage degree.

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Are you attaining any of your goals? Are you "downsizing" them because they were unrealistic? The point of goal setting is to keep you focused on a direction. If you keep changing the destination, you're never going to get there. I make a business plan but then modify it if the situation requires. Like if we sell a property we were originally planning on holding, etc.I don't know what kind of goal setting you're doing but would recommend to set ones that are attainable, not "shoot for the stars" type of goals.

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@Joe Stout. Often we start to move from point A to point B in our journey toward our goals. During which time point C opens up. The reason you could not see point C from the beginning. Is you were not ready for that. You had to start moving and gain something that would be necessary to achieve C. C becomes your new target (goal). Your new path is to C and often you will realize that you never really were meant to go to B, however you could not see your true destination until you moved far enough from A. Don't be afraid to pivot. Achieving success is about taking action, running into problems, making adjustments, and continuing to move forward. Just keep moving, evaluate your progress and keep moving again.

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Good. You start to see what real estate has to offer and realize there’s so much you can accomplish. Just make sure your end goal is somewhat similar.

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You already have some great advice listed above. I would ask yourself if your pivoting your goals because you're getting distracted. For example, you started out and wanted to own 10 single family homes. Then you heard about STR and how it's a higher return so you pivoted to STRs. Rinse and repeat several times and you won't have accomplished anything. It's okay to pivot but it's not okay to be distracted. In real estate, you'll need to pick your niche and be the expert at it. Once that happens other opportunities will arise and you'll have time to learn about those too.

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@Joe Stout NO! never ignore new information it could potentially help you avoid making costly mistakes!

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Changing goals isn't necessarily bad. When I started I was only interested in MF properties but since the market has overpriced a lot of MF I've begun buying SF homes as buy-and-hold. I reckon that's more of a strategy change than a goal change but the point is sometimes goals change as well depending on what the market gives you. As long as you're moving forward and aren't making excuses it counts as something.