“You must remain focused on your journey to greatness.” Les Brown

The story from late author David Foster Wallace goes like this: “Two young fish are swimming along when they meet an older fish who nods and says, ‘Morning boys. How’s the water?’ The two young fish swim on for a bit when one of them looks at the other and says, ‘What’s water?'”

Are you swimming through 2014 without even noticing the water? Not noticing what’s truly happening right in front of your eyes? Not paying attention? We’re all guilty of it – getting into a kind of zombie zone and doing the same old thing day in and day out without even noticing what we’re doing.

Sometimes you have to give yourself a little slap on the face to wake up and see what’s going on in your life. Right now is one of those times, but don’t slap too hard.

Believe it or not, 2014 is nearly half gone. This halfway mark is a great time to stop and check how you’re doing in your business. If you don’t know how far you’ve come, you won’t know how much farther you have to go.

The good news is that it’s not too late to have the best year of your life. But to do that, paying attention is essential. Here are some key items you should be focusing on for the remainder of 2014:

1. Your specific market characteristics. Many analysts see this year as an interesting one. Generally it’s been a seller’s market for much of the first four months, but there are signs things could even out with more inventory coming into play this summer. The key is to understand your local market. That’s what clients play for: knowledge and understanding.

2. Your leads. That’s a no-brainer, right? Well, not according to the data. It turns out most agents stop following up with leads after just three contacts, and only 10 percent of agents even make three contacts. But a full 80 percent of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact. I’ll tell you right now, top producers are staying in contact with leads. If you don’t have an e-mail drip system, get one. And make regular follow up calls to prospects monthly.

3. Your business plan and goals. The single biggest complaint I hear from broker owners is that their agents don’t have plans, and if they do, they don’t pay attention to or follow their plans. If nothing else, a plan can help you decide what kind of agent you’d like to be. Do you want to be average? Did you know the average agent only sells five houses a year? I hope your bar is set higher than that.

And, speaking of plans, for sticking with me through this article, I’d like to share a free business planning document. It’s only three pages long but it’s full of practical tips on how to develop an effective business plan that you can start using today and plan the rest of 2014. It shows you how to determine your revenue goals and the total number of transactions you need to reach your goals. Contact me today and I’ll send it to you – free of charge.

So, tell me what you’re thinking. Are you achieving everything you set out to achieve for 2014? If not, do you know why? Do you have a plan to overcome any hurdles that are hindering your 2014 progress? What’s that plan look like?