Fry Your Chickens Friday - Find a BOHAG

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One of the best ways to fry your chickens is to confront them head on. And one of the best ways to do that is with a BOHAG.

A BOHAG (Big Old Hairy Audacious Goal) will focus you like never before, provided that: 

It's your obsession. 

Not your passion, your obsession. There is a saying thrown out by a lot of professional speakers: "What would you do if you knew you wouldn't fail?" I think that's the wrong question. The right question is "What would you do even if you could fail, because the thought of not trying makes you sick?"

I've had a few BOHAGs in my life:

- Completing a triathlon. My friend Jon talked me into it and once I signed up I knew I had to train hard to get it done, and more importantly, not die.

- Completing a half-marathon. A friend passed away and his widow suggested a group of us do the Columbus half to raise money. Again, once I signed up I started training and pursuing the goal of finishing (I didn't have a time in mind, just survival. I wound up averaging 10:20 per mile for 13.1 miles which felt pretty good at the end).

- The Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking. In 2011, 2015 and 2018 I qualified for the semi-finals. That meant three summers focused on my competition speeches, attempting to win the big prize. Full disclosure - I made the Top 8 in 2011 and Top 20 in 2018. In 2015 I suffered a heart attack one week before the semi-finals. Bad for that BOHAG, but a great life lesson (more on that later.)

- And my favorite - Appearing on the TV Game Show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". This was the most important BOHAG / Obsession of my life because it was a longshot goal (20,000 to 1 on any given night) that I was able to persevere and finally accomplish (after three years of trying). 

The last goal is also where I came up with one of my favorite sayings:

Passion is nice, obsession pays.

In this case it paid $32,000. 

The pursuit of a BOHAG will help you confront the chickens head on. Even if you don't fully hit the goal. I really wanted a world championship and $1,000,000. But the process of coming close will let you know - whatever the chicken, you can beat it

Of course a BOHAG / Obsession can take a long time. Sometimes you need a quick hit. 

I call this a LOHAG (Little 'ol...). 

And that will be the subject of our next Friday post.

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