Every entrepreneur has felt it—the slow creep of tiny tasks that take over your day.
Whether it’s answering emails, handling minor client requests, or fixing operational hiccups, these “urgent” tasks often feel productive in the moment.
But at the end of the day, they leave you wondering: Did I actually move the needle today?
I’ve realized it’s not about whether I can handle the small stuff and the big picture.
It’s about focusing on what truly matters.
That means stepping back, defining bold, audacious goals, and making them the center of everything I do.
Because in the grand scheme of things, those tiny tasks? They’re just noise.
The Power of BHAGs: Learning from Entrepreneurs Who Dream Big
Entrepreneurs who’ve reshaped industries didn’t get there by obsessing over the small stuff.
They set audacious goals—what business writer Jim Collins calls “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” (BHAGs)—and worked relentlessly toward them.
Their stories remind us of the power of dreaming big.
Jeff Bezos offers a classic example. In the 1990s, when most people thought of the internet as a passing fad, Bezos wasn’t focused on just selling books online.
His BHAG? To create “the everything store,” a platform where anyone could buy anything, anytime. Early Amazon was chaotic—employees worked on doors propped up as desks, and Bezos himself would pack books in the warehouse.
But he never lost sight of the larger goal. Fast-forward to today, and Amazon is one of the most influential companies in the world, shaping everything from e-commerce to cloud computing.
Take Elon Musk. In the early 2000s (maybe not today), he wasn’t just tinkering with electric cars or dreaming of reusable rockets—he was envisioning a future where humanity would become a multiplanetary species.
His boldness wasn’t met with immediate applause. In fact, during SpaceX’s early years, Musk bet everything he had. By 2008, the company had run out of funds after three failed rocket launches.
The world was skeptical. Musk, though, was undeterred. With his last remaining dollars, he funded a fourth launch—and it worked. Today, SpaceX is leading the charge to Mars, but it started with a willingness to put everything on the line for a bold goal.
There’s Sara Blakely, who founded Spanx with just $5,000 in savings.
Her BHAG? To redefine shapewear and empower women to feel confident in their clothing.
The idea was unconventional, and at the time, shapewear was an unglamorous, overlooked category in retail. Blakely persisted, selling her product out of her apartment, cold-calling buyers, and even cutting the feet off her own pantyhose to make prototypes. Eventually, Oprah declared Spanx one of her favorite products, and the rest is history.
Blakely became the youngest self-made female billionaire—but only because she had a clear vision of the future she wanted to create.
The common thread in these stories? Big goals aren’t just about ambition; they’re about clarity. These entrepreneurs didn’t get bogged down by the day-to-day. They focused on long-term impact and treated everything else as secondary.
Defining My Own Big Goals
Inspired by these stories, I know I need to define my BHAGs.
Whether it’s Keyword Metrics’ commitment to building tools that agencies can’t live without or Embarque.io’s focus on scaling startups through powerful SEO content, it’s clear that the most valuable work is about creating assets that grow over time.
This could mean launching a product feature, improving a process, or investing in a brand—but it’s always about building something with lasting impact.
What’s the long-term vision I’m working toward? What do I want to achieve that feels so big it’s almost scary?
Here’s the plan:
- Identify the “Big Crystals”: These are the priorities that will drive compounding success. For me, that might mean scaling my business in a way that makes it self-sustaining or creating a product that transforms how people work.
- Reverse Engineer the Path: Once I’ve defined the goal, I’ll work backward to identify the milestones and daily steps required to achieve it.
- Focus on High-ROI Activities: Not every task contributes equally to growth. I need to identify the activities—like networking, building assets, or refining strategy—that deliver the highest return on my time.
Balancing Daily Obligations with Big Goals
Of course, big goals don’t mean abandoning the day-to-day. Bills need to be paid, clients need attention, and operations must keep running. But these tasks shouldn’t dictate how I spend the majority of my time.
Strategies to Stay on Track
• Time Blocking: Dedicate specific parts of the day to big-picture work and protect this time at all costs.
• Delegation: Offload smaller tasks to free up mental bandwidth for strategic thinking.
• Reflection: Take a few minutes each day to review progress. Am I advancing my big goals, or am I stuck in the weeds?
Building Assets, Not Just Hustling
The real magic of focusing on BHAGs is that it shifts your mindset.
Instead of hustling endlessly, you start building assets that compound over time.
These could be tangible assets, like a stronger product, or intangible ones, like a trusted personal brand. Either way, they create value that lasts.
For me, it’s time to stop letting the noise dictate my day. Instead, I’ll focus on making decisions and investments that will pay off in the long run. Everything else? It can wait.
Final Thoughts
These stories show us what’s possible when we focus on bold, long-term goals. They remind us that the greatest achievements aren’t born out of daily hustle—they’re the result of relentless focus on the big picture.
What’s your BHAG? What bold goal are you working toward that feels both exciting and daunting? Define it, work backward, and take the first step today. Because at the end of the day, everything else is just noise.