Stretch Goals

I am a chronic planner.  Most of my planning is looking ahead 90 days and then usually out to a year.  But I always picture the long-term perspective in our businesses.  It is kind of like seeing yourself in the car of your choice driving down the freeway.  It is that long-term perspective of the future that helps dictate what happens in the short term.  We are building a new business, Public Insight Corporation that is a potential game changer that looks at public data from an outcome based perspective.  If we didn't have the long term perspective, it would be hard to know what to do in the short-term.  We make short pithy statements that help us determine what we are or aren't.  For example, we say "we are not public policy experts" or "we are not the gatekeeper to the data' to help us stay on the long-term track.  We are also fond of establishing BHAG objectives which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals.  These are things that are the broader vision of where we ultimately want to be.  In this case, we visualize Public Insight as being the platform of choice for all state and local public analysis.  Pretty broad goals.

We sometimes establish "stretch" goals which are those goals that require us to really stretch to the limits of our potential.  A stretch goal is your ultimate reach that gets you going towards the BHAG.  I have always admired leaders that could see a longer term vision in their head and then execute towards it.  I don't consider myself a particularly strong visionary - I am more of a tactician, but I do find myself more and more thinking of what the potential might be.  Then as we execute towards the BHAG, we typically find ourselves making little detours along the way.  Entrepreneurship experts call those pivots.  The average successful entrepreneur pivots 1-2 times where as the unsuccessful entrepreneur pivots not at all or more than 2 times.  The message here is that detours happen - it is what you do with them that determine the success of your business.  If you ignore them, you will fail.  If you adjust too much like a bottle in the sea, you will also fail. 

So what is the spiritual message here?  God always has in mind for us a BHAG that always entails a series of stretch goals.  When God looks at you and me, He sees all of what we could be in Christ. He stretches us through trials.  James says to "consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).  Completeness is God's BHAG, but it will never be without trials and pain.  These are the pivots that we experience in daily life.  Jesus says "to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect".  That is the ultimate stretch BHAG.  I stumble often in my Christian walk.  The journey is often laden with potholes that line my path.  I know these pivots are maturing me, stretching me. 

I have to work out at least 3 times a week.  There are many times I don't feel like working out, but I do anyway.  Of course there are times when I should and I don't but that is another story.  I have never once regretted working out after I was done.  My 53 year old body is stronger and is able to help strengthen me against the natural causes of aging (aging always wins however).  If I was a perpetual couch potato, I would not be able to withstand any physical vigor.  Getting on my bike in the summertime would not be a pleasant experience.  Playing left field on my baseball team would feel like running in quicksand.  I am extremely grateful for God's workouts, but I sometimes hate them when they are happening.  I look back however very thankful for the stretching and maturing they are in my life while preparing me for the BHAG that I hope is around the corner.  Not sure when - took Moses 40 years, but I am going to be faithful in the process.  My prayer is that there is no trial that disqualifies me.