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What’s Your 2010 BHAG?

A BHAG is a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”.  I believe the term originated in a book by Jim Collins, but I learned about it through Dave Ramsey.  Dave describes it as a goal that is so big it’s intimidating and you can barely believe it’s possible, but it is if two things happen:

  1. You execute your plan and work your guts out
  2. God shows up

Now I’m pretty good at dreaming.  I’d love to win the Daytona 500 one day, but that’s a bit ridiculous.  And while I haven’t completely let go of those childhood dreams of becoming President of the United States, that’s probably more dream than goal (maybe more nightmare!).

I do have some pretty big goals that are going to take more than the next year to accomplish.  I want to be a best selling author, and there are probably three or four good ideas I’ve jotted down that could take me there.  I’d like to fly into space and look down on the earth (and return safely), and if anyone wants to pitch in the $200,000 for a Virgin Galactic ticket I’ll happily take it.  Prices will surely drop in a few decades…

Imagine you’re watching the ball drop in New York City on Dec 31st, 2010 looking back over the year that’s past.  What is that ONE thing that you want to have accomplished?

Put on your thinking caps for that one.  It’s okay to take a little time and ponder the possibilities.

The trick is that once you’ve got it figured out, write it down.  Then make a plan.  Then execute the plan.  Funny how that’s when God decides to show up a lot of times.

Leave a comment and let me know what your ONE BHAG is for 2010.

My 2010 BHAG: To be 100% self-employed on Jan 1st, 2011 while fully providing for my family.  Now that’s a BHAG!

Need some help discovering, documenting or achieving your goals? Join Victor Encinas and myself for our goals seminar starting January 13th. Just go to http://www.GoalVictory.com for details and to register. (BTW, the 10% discount has been extended through Jan 10th!)

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Ten Years Gone

It’s interesting to reflect on the past sometimes, though I have to be careful not to get stuck there.  As we close the door on 2009, I’m thinking not so much about the events of the past year, but of the past 10 years.

And that leads me to cast a vision for the next 10 years.

Ten years ago today was December 31st, 1999.  Bill Clinton was still president, and we were gearing up for an election in November 2000 that none of us could have predicted.  Y2K was all the rage as we prepared for the world to end (it didn’t, and probably won’t in 2012 either).

Me, I was a First Lieutenant in the US Air Force working as a computer systems manager at Offutt AFB outside of Omaha, Nebraska.  I think I remember having the day off, but had to report to the office a few hours before midnight…just in case everything in the world went wrong and Y2K happened.  Half an hour after midnight we locked the doors and headed out.  I met my wife at a friends house in rural Iowa and we stayed out until 3 or 4 am (sober).

I had no children, though we would learn of Anna’s impending arrival in just a few more days.

On that day I launched a new website, PerfectParanoia.com.  I picked that day because I wanted to be able to say that the site spanned two millennia!  It would soon become one of the most popular NASCAR sites on the web.  I made friends (and a few enemies) throughout the racing world, capped off with a behind the scenes weekend with ESPN at Atlanta Motor Speedway in November 2000.  Though I loved the site, at that time I had no idea how to turn it into a full-time business.  A few years later I would take the site down as it was too big of a burden on my family and career.  If I only knew then what I know now…

On that day I had no clue what change would be coming!

I never would have imagined leaving the Air Force, becoming a road warrior consultant for a huge firm that would later go bankrupt, moving to Alabama and living next door to my in-laws, or adopting a baby boy from Taiwan.

And I didn’t see an appointment with God that would leave me a Christ-follower.

Friends and family have been born and died.  Ten years is a long time after all.

So what’s my point in all of this?  Very simple:  Ten years from now, on December 31st, 2019, what do you want to be looking back on?

I didn’t have a master plan ten years ago, just a lot of raw ambition (and much of it misdirected).  I’ve experienced a lot of success from that point in time, and much of it due to hard work.  But I also missed a lot of opportunities because I just wasn’t prepared and didn’t have a vision.

Today, I’m building a plan for ten years from now to see just how much I can accomplish—as a Christian, as a husband, as a father, as an entrepreneur.

What about you?  Do you have a plan?  If you’d like some help, I highly recommend our goals program over at http://www.GoalVictory.com (the seminar series starts January 13th).

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Overdoing It

My constant pursuit of perfection is both a blessing and a curse.

God designed me that way, and I’m more than okay with it. I certainly leverage the positive aspects of being a precisionist. But in some areas I need to do a better job of protecting myself from myself!

Working on the Goal Victory presentation over the last few weeks was incredibly enjoyable, and in spite of a few technical issues, the seminar was very successful. We were able to provide a lot of info in just an hour. The replay is available at GoalVictory.com if you want to check it out.

The preparation for the call was both energizing and exhausting. I poured so much effort into the presentation. For several nights I stayed up until 2 am working on it…and went to bed with a smile on my face. But once it was over, I crashed. I crashed hard. If something didn’t absolutely need to be done in the days following, I didn’t do it (hence the lack of posts).

There is a time and a place to surge, but you can’t do it indefinitely. Pacing is important. Going without sleep will only leave you productive for a short period of time.

A former boss and friend of mine is not a precisionist (not even close!). But he leverages different strengths to get things done and is very successful. He once told me “to not ruin good enough with perfect”. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

I need to hear that when I’m in the throes of perfecting things.

Now, I’m fully enthralled in the celebration of the holidays with my family. I won’t be working much for the next week. I hope you can find the time to put the rush of the holidays behind and simply enjoy the true reason for Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone! See you more in 2010!

James

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You Are NOT a Statistic!

As I wrap up my Jobs & Careers theme for the month of November, I want to share just a bit of raw encouragement.

Too often we hear job statistics and our anxiety rises beyond proportion to the unemployment rate raising. Unemployment is currently above 10%. If there are 300 Million Americans in jobs or looking for jobs, that means 30 Million are out of work (I’m doing quickie math here and don’t want to get into arguments over the % of the population that has given up on finding work). If it worsens by 1%, another 3 Million will lose their jobs. Yet statistics show that upwards of 60% of people are worried about losing their jobs. That’s 180 Million people worrying, and a whopping 177 Million have nothing to worry about!

Now don’t misunderstand me. For those who have lost jobs or are under threat of losing their job, it’s a legitimately scary time. My focus here is on the hysteria surrounding unemployment statistics…and other statistics for that matter.

I worked for a company that went bankrupt this year. A lot of people I used to work with are still looking for work. It’s not as easy out there as it once was. Me? I was unemployed for a total of three whole days! And that was just the transition between jobs.

Was there uncertainty in the process? Yes. Was there worry? Not really.

Why?

Because I had already changed my perspective on work and because I’d already plotted out several moves in advance.

My Perspective on Work
I used to think that if I worked hard enough and long enough, the big corporation would notice me and realize how valuable I am, therefore granting me job security. The truth is that when I work for only one company, my job is automatically more insecure than that of the hot dog vendor on the busiest street corner downtown. He has hundreds of clients…I have one. He can lose a bunch…I can’t lose any!

When you start to think of yourself as working for yourself and not for someone else, even if you really do work for someone else, something inside of you changes. You work differently. You appreciate things differently. And eventually, you get to the point that you really don’t want to work for someone else at all!

Thus began my pursuit of self-employment and entrepreneurship.

Planning Ahead
In my last job, the signs of bankruptcy were everywhere. Management constantly told us that we didn’t have $1 Billion in debt…it was actually only $990 Million! Notes were coming due. Changes were happening at the top. Company loyalists were hoping for the best…a restructuring without the burden of our debt. After all, we had great people and great products…how could we cease to exist?

Several months after declaring bankruptcy, the company was sold off in bits and pieces. My project couldn’t be sold to the primary buyer due to conflicts of interest. All I could do was wait it out, hoping for a smaller buyer to suck us up. Well, not really.

I started looking. I looked at other companies. I looked at becoming an independent contractor. I looked at anything I could do to affect the change instead of being a victim of it.

And while some of my friends were left without options, I created my own. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t as smooth or as perfect as I would have liked, but with a plan I landed on my feet.

Not everyone can have that experience. Sometimes there are no (visible) warning signs. Sometimes you show up for work and get a punch in the gut that takes your breath away.

You feel like a statistic. Like a random number on some report somewhere at a company headquarters or government agency.

Refuse to be that statistic!

You have a name. You have a family. You are a unique creation of the Ultimate Creator! You have a mission and a purpose, even if it hasn’t been revealed to you yet!

You are not a number!

So don’t think of yourself that way. It’s time to get to work getting to work. Don’t start getting up late and watching Oprah in your pajamas!

Invest some time learning. Remember all of the value that you created over the years…all of the accomplishments. Those are real.

Realize that starting over today isn’t the same as starting out back when you really started. You have experience and knowledge. You are a known quantity (and hopefully a good one).

Take the job loss as the opportunity to change paths. What is something you always wanted to do but just didn’t? Could now be the perfect time to go do it?

Your job is now to find a job. Spend the same 40 hours per week in pursuit of the next job (studying, researching, learning, interviewing, asking, networking…all of that counts!).

For the Employeed
Mark down the names of the people you know who have lost their jobs recently. Encourage them as you’d like to be encouraged. Help them if you can. But at a minimum I want you to check back with them again in 12-18 months. Ask them what they’ve been up to. Those who have put themselves to work finding new work (with a company or by starting their own) will invariably say that losing their job was the best thing that ever happened to them.

They didn’t know it at the time. Neither will you.

March into the unknown realizing that you are not a statistic. You are a success. You can be knocked down, but you know how to get up. And you’re going to keep getting up, time and time again…always.

And most of all…never treat yourself like a number. Never!

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