I was listening to Matt Morris of the Unemployed Millionaire Blog talk about goals.  He was talking about big goals and how our goals should scare us a little.  He says we should set what he calls BHAG (big, hairy audacious goals) that stretch our thinking and our ability to achieve them.

I do have agree, that some of our goals should really stretch us.  So what what does that actually mean “stretch us”.  Let’s examine that word for a minute, if you think of an elastic band stretching, think about how we can stretch and stretch and stretch it, and it won’t break.  It just gets longer and bigger.  Now sometimes we can stretch them so far that they will break, so we want to make sure those goals don’t break us.  Another principle to keep in mind, is that we should not had a lot of “stretch goals”, just one or maybe two at a time.  That elastic band breaks under too much pressure, and you don’t want to break under the pressure of too many stretch goals.

So my challenge to everyone today is to pick a goal for yourself that will stretch you.  Something that you can hardly dare to think about, let alone attempt doing.  Something you don’t even want to talk about because it is that big.  Set a reasonable time frame for achievement and watch what happens.

The next principle that is important with the BHAG is to keep that goal in front of you all the time.  Read it over every single day, several times a day.  Put it on the mirror, the dashboard of the car, on your computer, anywhere you are for any period of time.  Make it front and center.

And one final thing about your BHAG, what if you don’t quite make it?  Well think about this.  Before it was a goal, it was a doubt or a dream you only dreamed in silent moments.  When you turned it into a goal you got closer to achieving it than ever before, so if you don’t quite make it, try again.  Make it next month’s BHAG and get a little further with it.  You will get there, trust me.