Big hairy audacious goals
Want to live your full potential? Dream big they said — like really big. I dreamed a big hairy audacious goal — the biggest I could muster. In my mind, the goal looked something a little like this…big, hairy and to my untrained mind a little bit unrealistic.
My goal was to be a writer and a speaker — about something yet to be determined. The goal scared me… after years of being in communications I knew I could write in a certain way, but that had always been for someone else. I felt driven to express my own truths but how?
This was in 2021 and I am still debating how to make my big purple hairy audacious goal a reality. But this is what I have determined so far and it’s applicable to any big goal.
- Dream big. Know your mind can dream a dream of reality, but as your thoughts and experience are based on only things that have happened in the past, your brain will not be able to conceive of a future so different to the one you currently have. Do it anyway.
- Stick with the vision. As your brain cannot conceive of how this new reality is possible, you have to be disciplined, thank your mind for sharing, and proceed anyway. I have fallen down in this step about 2 million times at last so far. It’s ok to do that. Remind yourself you got this and pick it back up. Every day is a new day. Remind yourself every morning or your goal, put post it notes in places you will see them. Find objects that remind you of your goal and keep them visible.
- Take inspired action. This one is not new, but it is so hard to tell those inspirational nudges from all the batshit crazy thoughts in your mind when you are headed to new territory. Your mind is committed to keeping you safe (and we love it for that) but embarking on a new hairy audacious goal is dangerous territory for the mind and it starts going manic searching for the familiar. It starts second guessing your dream and your choices every step of the way. One way I am dealing with this is to journal all of the ideas coming through. If I can’t tell whether this is true inspiration or manic thoughts, I journal my ideas so they feel heard and then every week I look at the ideas and see which ones to take action on.
- Keep moving forward towards your goal. Set an intention to do something towards your goal every week. Just one thing and do it. For me fear shows up as procrastination big time. I love to write — but suddenly I have 100 things I need to do that are ‘urgent’ and writing gets pushed to the last 5 minutes of the day when I am tired and then it slips off the radar. I have literally wasted years scrolling on Instagram and wasting time at this point. Just do the thing — you will feel great afterwards.
- Become the new person you need to be for this goal. To level up in your life, you literally have to become a different person. Know that when you set that big audacious goal, the universe will set to work helping that happen for you. Don’t be surprised if the shit hits the fan and all the things you don’t need fall away. A job goes awry, plans go wrong. Stick with it and know this is to get you where you need to go. This leads nicely into the next step.
- Trust. This was my big intention for 2023 and I have made a little progress here but it’s HARD. Especially when you are an A type personality that likes to have control and know what is happening next. Journaling about my life experience has shown me that all the big times in my life were borne of a dream and then action. The universe always delivers at the exact right time. This is not especially helpful in the middle of a bunch of uncertainty.
I will share how my big goal goes, because if I manage to make this happen, my intention is to share this others so everyone can make their big hairy audacious goals come true and live their best and most fulfilled lives.
