Do you have a BHAG (a big hairy audacious goal)? I found mine a few years ago. I was attending the Vistage International Chair Conference in New Orleans where they hung all sorts of large sheets of paper with questions and markers for Chairs to post their thoughts. For 2 days I walked past the poster that asked “What is your BHAG? Every day I saw more answers written by the wise colleagues that I love and respect. It slowly grew on me, my goal was so hairy and so audacious, I felt unworthy of even saying it out loud. I finally decided that was why I needed to not just say it out loud, but to declare it. . Here ii is: I will ski a black diamond run when I am 90 years old. For those of you who know Mammoth Mountain in California, it is Cornice.
Why am I sharing this? How outrageous would it be to be able to ski at that age? It affects how I eat, sleep, exercise, handle stress….it challenges all my assumptions about what it means to age. No excuses like “I’m too old to do that”. “That’s too hard at my age.” If it is too hard in my 60’s, what about my 80’s?
I know that life has a way of throwing in other outcomes that I can’t control. I’m ignoring all that. I use hiking poles when I do long treks especially when there is a lot of downhill. I take care of my knees. I do a lot of stretching. I try to take care of the machine. Mostly, it is a mental game – My self talk – my attitude.
My BHAG drives my behavior at a fundamental level. I create intermediate steps. This summer we are hiking for a week in the high sierra. I create weekly goals. We have to hike every weekend. We have to do Pilates twice a week. I’m trying to lose the 15 pounds that I have put on at 3 pounds a year for the last 5 years.
It is just like your business goals. Set an objective, break it down into steps, execute against the plan. Hold yourself accountable for doing the work.
This week, think about your BHAG and if you are executing the steps you have to take to get there. If you don’t have one, I challenge you to think about what would excite you, and create one. If it gives you willies in your stomach, it may just be the one you need to declare to the world.
Photo by Sean Bora of your truly skiing at Mammoth.