BHAG of 2021

Dear Diary,

Happy New Year.

It’s been ONE HECK OF A RIDE.

We didn’t see this coming, not in a million years. It’s like a nightmare turned into reality. The borders are shut, protests and natural disasters are wilder than ever, people dying left, right and center. In just a matter of weeks, the world turned has upside down.

2020 marked the year of TikTok and its young millionaire celebrities, they year of docuseries in Netflix. It was the year of all time highs that followed a scary drop in the markets. The year of virtual meetings and beginning of virtual gatherings, of facemasks and had sanitizers.

I must admit, it was pretty late when I started gaining insights about how to plan my 2021. As you know, every year, I write down my goals, some big, some small, and many of them get achieved, eventually.

However, this year, my inspiration comes from an idea that I’ve seen a few people implement in 2020 AND SUCCEEDED.

The term is called BHAG, coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their book called “Built to last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies,” it stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. I was a skeptic to begin with, especially in a minimalist era where the whispers of society lean towards aiming for small and attainable goals to build a habit. I must say that these small goals never worked for me.

Recently, I learned that I’m a “go big or go home” kind of gal. I can’t explain why I’m naturally inclined to be such, despite my parents’ constant caution to always take the most conservative path when faced with options. I just notice that my voice sound more confident when it is louder and more pronounced. I even noticed that my moves in Zumba look better when I extend my arms or turn my hips or neck to as far of a reach as I can, compared to when I don’t. I’ve never succeeded by approaching things with fear and uncertainty, but au contraire, I’ve aced things when I give it a little “extra.”

Reality is, whenever we are faced with something new, it is hard to learn the ropes and excel immediately. It is normal to perform with anxiety and uncertainty as we go through the initial stages of learning the curve. The problem with me, sometimes lie on staying too long in that learning curve. At times, it is evident that I should be moving on, but for some reason, I get stuck in fear, laziness, and mediocrity.

2020 was my groundbreaking year. It was my inflection point, the year that I bent my downward curve. After trying for so long to have kids, we finally got pregnant. Although we lost the child, we are still hopeful that we will be blessed with another one. I’ve also experienced my biggest production in my career this year. The hubby got his brand-new car, and we finally became landlords of two properties subsequently. I found my passion, and my long-lost love for real estate and construction.

MNDSET:

You see, 2020 was also the year when Elon Musk announced that they wanted to produce 500,000 cars. I remember laughing when I read that the Tesla’s Shanghai factory can only produce up to 200,000 cars a year, in a regular year, and not in a year where factories are forced to shut down and people are losing their jobs. Yet, on the first two days of 2021, Tesla reported that they were only 450 cars short of their goal for 2020. Blew my mind! I’ve watched Tesla’s stock go up 750% and I’ve also seen the sell-off that happened in between. I can just imagine how many sleepless nights Elon Musk must have had over the last year. I guess that’s what it takes to become the 3rd richest man in the world.

Another inspiration that I draw from is NAS Daily and Project Nightfall. Nas daily, is a video blog based on the idea that the founder will create 1000 1-minute videos every day. It took him 1000 days and by the end of the project he had 11 million followers. I remember seeing his videos and liking them because they were short, concise, and informative. The same thing goes with Project Nightfall. When I first saw them, I thought nothing much of them and didn’t think that they’d make it far in the world of internet, but they did. Despite their accents and distinct tonality, it’s insane how Nas Daily grew to 30 million followers and Project Nightfall 7x’d in one year. This year I find out that they’re best friends in real life and have jointly collaborated moving forward.

This is when I realized that 2021 for me is the year where I dream BIG, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS, GOALS. I want to tie in a number around it. I want to make my number ridiculous.

THE WHAT

My number is:

100 x $1,000,000 Proposals

If I can move on any further, I want to read 100 books, meditate everyday for 100 minutes, and exercise for 20 minutes every weekday morning.

At the end of the year, I want to be able to write a book, any book.

I want to start my own podcast.

THE WHY:

Although I had an increase in my assets and revenues in 2020, I am still not happy about my growth. I want to see exponential numbers. I need to finish the goals set for me professionally and kill the goals that I set for myself.

2021 is the last year before I close off the decade. This is a hallmark year for me to finish strong. It’s the last push that can get me to the next level both for financial security and self-actualization, which is the highest according to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

I need this boost. I need to propel myself to a safer ground. I want the 7 figures, and I believer that that’s where I belong.

THE HOW:

Benchmarks:

I calculated that there are only 261 working days in a year. Which means that I have to be doing a proposal at least every other day and a half. My buffer is only 36 hours between each proposal.

This would mean that I would have to keep my pipeline always flowing. In order to keep my pipeline flowing, I need to be constantly looking for opportunities where I can present that proposal. I need to make calls, contact people on Linked in, invite them to meetings, or do seminars.

I’ve announced this goal to the world and told everyone I know who cares about it.

I’ve done graphs, they’re visual, but do they work? Meh, sometimes.

This time, I will put 100 candies in the jar and every time I have a proposal, I will transfer one candy from the full the jar to the empty one.

My benchmark is 5 proposals a week. I will create a calendar that tells where I should be at the end of each month and each quarter.

I need to be always staring at a big calendar. I should have at eye-level behind my computer.

If I am not meeting, I should be prospecting.

A book is about 6 hours long on average to finish, and if I spend about 2 hours a day before bedtime to listen, I snag a chance of finishing 100 books a year.

I have to create an excel sheet of the books that I’m reading and the date of when I finished them.

Schedule:

I need to have a tight schedule during the day, and I will need to start counting my hours and budgeting my time.

My activities should be mapped out for the day, with time blocks and should be reviewed the night before.

Speaking of the night before, I need to set an alarm for bed time so that I know when I need to start winding down in order to get 7 hours of sleep. I will only have 17 waking hours therefore I better use them wisely!

I want to start my day waking up at 5am each morning. This means that I need be sleeping by 10pm at night.

Morning Routine:

1. I heard pulling is good for you. This is the practice of swooshing coconut oil the very first thing when you wake up. It’s good for the gums, it’s been related to many health benefits. I remember when I used to do it regularly, my teeth were whiter, and I felt my gums healthier. Pull while doing morning devotion.

2. Exercise for 20 minutes a day. I have an Echelon bike and rower, So. Can alternate the cardio.

3. Get ready for the day- hygiene routine

4. Drink Vitamins

5. Prepare Coffee

This year is not a year to focus in extreme physical fitness. It’s just important to be moving.

Evening Shut Down Routine:

1. Evening Hygiene Routine

2. Read or listen to a book

3. Review the day

4. List the things that slipped away

5. Review Schedule for tomorrow

I know it will be hard. I know that I will get tired. I know that I will be successful in the first two weeks and then the going will start getting tough. I will have to stick with it, with my purpose, with my why. I have to keep on reminding myself everyday of my why and reiterate my goals.

I know that I will have adversities, and possibly enemies. It will not be easy.

I don’t know what is in store for us this year. It looks like it’s already starting with a bang, with the way the President of America is exiting the stage.

My only hope is that our family will still be intact, stronger than ever, caring for one another. I pray that we live each day purposefully, deliberately, and powerfully.

May I have the strength to proceed, the focus, determination and most of all perseverance.

All I want is for 2021 to be pivotal, to be loud, to be exponential, and ground shaking.

Let’s chat again soon, hopefully by the end of this year, and see how I did, with my BIG, BOLD, AUDACIOUS GOAL.

Ciao for now!

Kay Dee