Want to Accomplish an Impossible Goal? First, Tell Someone.

This is my second COVID writing installment, where I have committed myself to reflect and write one piece each Friday throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. In Dallas County where I live, we have just extended our stay-at-home order until at least May 20th and from recent projections I have seen, many metropolitan areas will not hit a peak until early to mid-May. To pass time and create some accountability for myself, I’ve committed to write and publish a short piece each Friday.

Today’s topic is around Big Hairy Audacious Goals or BHAGs, which is a phrase popularized by James Collin and Jerry Porras in their book “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.” According to the authors, a BHAG is a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business’ existence.

While I love BHAGs in the context of business and corporate innovation, I’m going to turn to personal goals and how one might set out to achieve a BHAG.

You may or may not have a BHAG. If you don’t, think of a personal accomplishment that you deem insurmountable — something that is longer-term (say 3 to 5 years). It should be a vision of yourself and where you want to be, and you should probably have limited to no insight into how to get there.