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WATERSKI MagazineI've explained how Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAGs) grab you by the bindings and can inspire a variety of victories in your life. Now I'll tell you about the magical events you can expect to occur when you are truly committed to a BHAG.
For some people an obsession might be a new car or a particular new outfit. It could even be a relationship with another person. Let's take the new car as an example. Perhaps you never thought of having a Chevy pickup truck. Suddenly a friend tells you about the features and benefits of a Chevy pickup truck, and you decide you want one in the worst way.
As you save your money, read the classified ads and visit auto dealers, you begin to see the pickup everywhere. While you're driving to work, your head will snap around at the sight of a Chevy pickup truck. A mile later you'll see another one. At the office cafeteria you'll grab a magazine and open it, only to find an ad for Chevy pickups staring at you. You'll overhear a conversation in the hallway between two people discussing, of all things, pickup trucks.
The magical significance of a goal is that it can turn your brain into a magnet. This magnet works through all your senses to bring any and all relevant material to your attention.
During this time, the degree of your obsession will determine the degree of your focus. To be truly focused is a concept foreign to some people but critical to reaching significant BHAGs.
When a lion tamer walks into the center circle at the circus, the gate closes behind him, and he faces the lion with a whip and a … stool? Why a stool? Wouldn't a machine gun make more sense? The lion tamer holds up the stool so the lion is confronted with the four pointed ends of the legs of the stool. The lion is then faced with a dilemma. Which of the four legs should get his attention? As the lion shifts his attention from one leg to the other, and then the other, and then the other, he becomes confused, complacent and even apathetic.
The tamer now has control. This is what happens to us when we try to focus on too many things at once. Certainly we must balance our family, work, church and community activities. But we can only be truly focused on two or three goals for maximum results. After that threshold is reached, our effectiveness goes downhill fast.
What does this mean? To be truly focused on our BHAG, we must be willing to let some things go out of focus. Try this exercise. (Don't imagine this exercise; you must actually do it!) Pretend you're holding a sewing needle in your left hand between your index finger and your thumb. As you hold up your imaginary sewing needle, pretend you have thread between the index finger and the thumb of your right hand. The end of the thread is approximately 3 inches from the eye of the needle. Now stare at the needle as if you were about to thread the needle … you're almost there … now stop and quickly refocus your eyes on whatever lies beyond your needle in your field of vision.
What were those objects like before you refocused your eyes? They were blurry, right? They were out of focus as you tried to thread the needle. By the way, as you refocused on those items you missed threading the needle. So it will be with your goals unless you can stay focused on the task at hand.
If the prize is worth having and the goal is clear in your mind, it deserves appropriate attention until reached. And then your dreams will come true, just like magic.
