On October 11, 1996, after nearly killing my idiot boss at the Naval Submarine Base in Silverdale, WA, I realized my passion in life was to develop the next great generation of managers.
That was a good start. It still left me mired in my current reality. At that stage of my life, I was the parent of an infant and working in a thankless job managing a dental clinic while on active duty in the Navy. I was half-way through a Masters degree in Organizational Leadership and trying to figure out a career move. I thought it would be a selection to an officer program, but three attempts at that program proved fruitless. I was motivated, but had no clear direction.
After reflecting on my new passion however, I started to think about how to actually make that passion something tangible. I decided that the way to make a serious dent in the world was to actually get on the world stage – television! It was then I turned my passion into a Big Associated Goal – or I put it in THE B.A.G.
- The goal was BIG.
- It was ASSOCIATED with my passion.
- …and it was a GOAL
(so it’s a B.I.G. one!)
Having a TV show where I could rehab bad managers was a stretch, but I figured by dividing and conquering, I could make it happen. Between my current reality and my B.A.G. however was years of steep climbing on bad (or no) roads. I then developed the following model:
By breaking it into switchbacks, or diagonal paths, I could make progress, slowly, but always upward. My steps included making the choice to walk out of the Navy at the 15-year mark, taking several positions in HR, writing books, posting blogs, creating videos, speaking, starting a business, and more. I’m still on the mountain, getting a little higher each month. I still plan to have that TV show. The B.A.G. has been my compass.
Enough about me. What about you? Are you simply existing? Have you given up on achieving anything more than simple pain avoidance? If so, why not consider coming up with something B.I.G.?
Set a GOAL….That’s BIG….and it’s ASSOCIATED with something you’re passionate about. Do it and you’ll suddenly have a compass that will get you navigated someplace other than just to the next 3-day weekend. It’s made a big difference in my life and I know it will for you too.
