Why You Should Set Radical Goals

Almost unanimously, they declared they wanted 25 wins, which meant settling for five losses, until a freshman challenged them. Wouldn't they want to be undefeated? They rallied around the new goal. They would go undefeated and make it to the NCAA Tournament. They figured they would be the lowest seeded team and that they would play the first seed, Duke, in the first round.

That is exactly what happened. They went undefeated into the NCAA Tournament as the sixteenth seed. While they got crushed by Duke, they never said they would beat them.

Of all of the breakthrough stories to come out of Fishbird, this is one of my favorites. It perfectly illustrates how we get stuck in our preconceived ideas of what's possible and how we can break out of our mindset to go after something much bigger. Without radical goal setting, our futures end up looking like slightly better versions of our pasts. Instead of a future when anything is possible, we end up living into the already chartered waters of our history.

1. Ask yourself, "If anything were possible, what would I want?" Don't judge your ideas. Just write them down. This is essential to tapping into your passion and breaking from the gravitational pull of mediocrity.

3. Don't ask for permission. Everyone is looking for someone to give them the go-ahead for their life. Stop looking. Give yourself the permission to go after what you want. If you step on people's toes, they aren't moving, they're standing still.

4. Don't worry about knowing how. If you're really setting a radical goal, you won't know how to make it happen. That's what makes it radical. If you have a pretty good idea how to complete a project, you are playing it safe. Safe isn't inspiring.

5. Untether yourself from the past. The past is your greatest ball-and-chain. A clear, radical goal can move you exponentially instead of linearly. Create the future from your imagination.