Big Goals are Easier

It’s easier to achieve an outrageous goal than an incremental goal.

Here’s an example: When I was in college, I was involved in UGA HEROs—an organization dedicated to helping children affected by HIV/AIDS. I loved being a part of this work, but we were a smaller charity on campus.

The two largest organizations (both in amount raised and people involved) were Dance Marathon, raising money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Relay for Life, raising money for research for the American Cancer Society. UGA HEROs was well known because the organization was founded by UGA graduates and supported by big names like Coach Vince Dooley and then Head Coach Mark Richt. 

In my senior year, we had a new group leading the way, and we were determined to change this narrative.

The previous year, we were third out of third in fundraising, raising $75,000 in one year. By comparison, Dance Marathon raised $302,000 and Relay for Life had raised north of $200,000. 

Fueled by some healthy competition, we decided to aim big. After all, there is less competition for bigger goals, right? We set our goal at $303,000. (A little disclaimer here: we didn’t want any other charity to do poorly. We just wanted to leverage their fundraising number as motivation for our cause and our kids.)

I remember when I shared our audacious goal with our faculty advisor, she thought I was crazy. She asked why we couldn’t set a more realistic goal? Why not a 10% or 20% increase?  

And here is how this principle plays out:

If we sign up a few more volunteers.
If we will make some more calls.
If we will work a little harder.

And if we do some more, we are likely to achieve more.

BUT, if we set a goal that’s 400% more than we had ever raised before, more just wasn’t going to cut it. When you jump to a much bigger goal, you have to totally rethink and reimagine your approach. You have to be willing to build something totally outside of your current system if you want to reach an audacious goal. 

I fundamentally believe that it’s easier to grow exponentially than incrementally. That doesn’t mean you’ll always succeed, but big goals force you to think and act differently. 

It requires you to grow and change in ways that you never have before.

Going for big goals is scary because it feels like you’re risking what you currently have for something that may or may not work out.

However the upside, if you succeed, is so much fun. 

In case you were wondering, we achieved our big goal. UGA HEROs raised $306,000 dollars. For that year, we were the largest charity on a campus of more than 30,000 students. 

Here’s my question for you: What area of your life needs a big goal?

Find an ambition that’s big enough to force you out of your comfort zone. Set the goal. And go!