The Investor Lab

The Investor Lab


Breaking BHAGs

March 03, 2020

Everyone needs a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (or BHAG) - a term coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their classic business book, ‘Built to Last’. These are not your ordinary business goals - these are meant to seem unattainable. They are meant to scare you and push your limits. The journey may seem fraught with peril but the destination occupies a high-ranking spot on your bucket list. But we’ve heard this before: “Set a goal and achieve it!”. How is this vulgar-sounding acronym any different? BHAGs address life goals, not tick off your fridge to-do lists. The time-scale is a decade, not a week or a year. Tangible, material motivation is often incorrectly set as the goal as opposed to innovative, compelling, and exciting life changes.


After debating whether “balmy” means hot or cold and admitting to stocking inferior quality “guest coffee”, Goose and Gabi team up to discuss BHAGs and the rules when it comes to setting them, goal setting in relationships, discipline and even share their 25-year BHAGs. Invest in your goals before investing in your wealth.


Key Points:



  • Tactics, strategy and vision - and not in that order
  • Setting goals and the power of writing them down
  • Introducing Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (or BHAGs) courtesy of Jim Collins
  • BHAGs are meant to be out of reach though still physically possible
  • Answering the question: “What does your life look like in 10/20/30 years?”
  • Getting excited about your goals and leveraging success from the excitement
  • Remember: “What would you do if you didn’t have to work for money?” is an entirely different question from “What would you do if you had 1 million dollars?”
  • Exploring goals in the context of relationships
  • BHAGs are achieved in timescales measured in decades, not weeks or years
  • Critical analyses and course-corrections are paramount: reassess daily/weekly
  • Goose and Gabi’s 25-year plan
  • Do not google “What’s a good BHAG?” - your goal is your own.
  • Get uncomfortable now to achieve what you want later

Links:



End Quote:


“You can’t score a goal if you have no idea where the goalposts are”


― Goose


“Until you are prepared to go within, you will go without”


 


― Yogi Bhajan