What the heck is a BHAG? Well, according to Investopedia, a BHAG is:
A Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) is a strategic business statement similar to a vision statement which is created to focus an organization on a single medium-long term organization-wide goal which is audacious, likely to be externally questionable, but not internally regarded as impossible.
If we apply this definition to our own lives, we can think of a BHAG as:
Clear and compelling, serves as unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for the human spirit. It has a clear finish line, so the individual can know when they have achieved the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines.
Before I tell you what my BHAGs are, I think goal setting is such an important activity to help you focus on your purpose. I talk about this a lot in my school presentations, but I believe the point of life is not to be happy; rather the point of life is to create a purpose. Happy is an emotion and there are many times in life when we feel anything but happy. We can’t always be happy. To define our lives based on an emotion is setting yourself up for failure. To create a purpose in our life means that we live each day with meaning. Whether we’re happy or sad, knowing that we have a purpose will keep us going even through the darkest times – and that’s when we’ll need that focus and faith the most.
To set clear goals for yourself, in this case, BHAGs, will help us define what our purpose is, consistently and continuously keep us on the path towards our purpose and help us connect moments of inspiration, struggle, meaning, success and learning together to create amazing experiences, lasting relationships and stories which will help define our lives.
My goals mostly focus around frisbee and I’ve realized fairly recently that it’s dangerous to set goals to beat someone else’s achievements because if they keep raising their bar, and we keep trying to achieve or better their best, we’re always going to be comparing ourselves to them and that’s not a healthy way to live. Instead, we should look at where we are based on our skills, our time commitments and our realistic expectations for improving our abilities in order to set realistic goals. Once we reach our goal(s), we then set new ones. It’s a lifelong process – one that will help us stay hungry, stay healthy and stay determined to live a life full of purpose and passion.
Here are my BHAGs:
- Throw a disc 900 feet
- Catch an MTA at 20 seconds or greater
- Catch a TRC at 100 metres or greater
- Have a catch with Davy Whippet using a Hero Extra at greater than 400 feet
- Have Davy catch a disc over 500 feet
- Achieve an SCF score of 175 or greater
So I ask you…what are your BHAGs?