
Having big goals and stating them proud - GVRV
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2601-having-big-goals-and-stating-them-proud
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kilian
...except that announcing your goals makes you less likely to follow through
with them. This TED talk by Derek Sivers explains it far more eloquently than
I could:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_you...](http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yourself.html)

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dhh
Good pitch, I haven't personally found this to be true with the goals I've
shared with other people. I get much more fired up to prove that I'm actually
going to do it once it's out there. But obviously the science shows that might
not be true for all.

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zck
It makes a difference that you're a polarizing person -- there will be people
next week mocking you because 37signals isn't a $100million company yet, so
you have more impetus to actually achieve it compared to a person who tells
his or her friends, who will be supportive and forgetful of failures.

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mjfern
Collins and Porras suggest companies should establish Big Hairy Audacious
Goals: A BHAG is "...an audacious 10-to-30-year goal to progress towards an
envisioned future...A true BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as a unifying
focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for team spirit. It has a
clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal;
people like to shoot for finish lines. A BHAG engages people—it reaches out
and grabs them. It is tangible, energizing, highly focused."

A few examples of compelling BHAGs that guided and motivated people:

\- John F. Kennedy's BHAG of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s

\- Microsoft's BHAG of placing a PC on every desk in every home

\- Google's BHAG of organizing the world’s information and making it
universally accessible and useful

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cglee
I think you left out the most important thing - a BHAG focuses money. It's a
giant bet. SCO's BHAG is the lawsuit, Netscape's BHAG was the browser,
Pets.com's BHAG was serving every pet - all bets that didn't pay off.

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mjfern
Establishing a BHAG per se does not mean you've selected a good goal or that
you will achieve the goal.

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dmix
> If we’re going to turn 37signals into a $100 million/year company

Posting generic self-help articles would be a good first step towards this
goal.

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dhh
You wouldn't believe the millions we bring in on free web articles. Or, I
should say forecasted millions. They don't make any real money right now, but
I'm sure we'll make it up on bulk!

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dmix
I was being facetious about it being a serious business.

But I _was_ serious about this post being straight out of a self-help book.

Although self-help has consistently been one of the top selling topics on
Amazon, right below romance novels. So the former might have somes grounds as
well.

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Eliezer
It's always nice when someone starts a contest you've already won.

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Kutta
^I laughed out.

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edw519
_So what’s your big goal? Make it public and we’ll egg you on._

I'm going to buy the Pittsburgh Steelers and beat the New York Jets so badly
that we'll make Gary Vaynerchuk sorry he ever made his big wish.

(Are you sure you want to egg me on?)

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umjames
Any chance you want to buy the Philadelphia Eagles and turn them into a Super
Bowl-winning franchise?

But seriously, does that mean you are actively working towards that goal now?
Do you think you can realistically achieve it?

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gruseom
I suppose "ly" is considered harmful as a suffix now too then?

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hugh3
Using adjectives as adverbs is apparently acceptable English in the dialect of
the American South. I'm not sure why DHH is using it though.

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mrduncan
Let's get this started - what's your big goal?

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sahillavingia
Waking up in the morning without a big goal. :)

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msg
In other words nirvana.

I prefer to wake up with a goal that is too big for one lifetime.

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farawaygarry
I can see why stating one’s goal is a good starting point : it helps getting
the right mindset to then actually work to achieve this goal. But in
everything I've done, talking about something not achieved yet brings unneeded
attention and stress, that one doesn’t need in his process of accomplishing
something.

I'm not saying to hide while working on stuff, but I'm not sure making a lot
of noise about it is helping the actual progress of the project.

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T_S_
Underpromise, overdeliver.

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Mc_Big_G
Same goal I posted on the blog post: To steal the high-ticket classifieds
market from craigslist and ebay.

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Aetius
This works, but only for natural extroverts, politicians, and DHH. For you,
hacker, much better to keep a low profile until you've got something to
announce.

