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The greater danger for most of us lies in not setting our aim too high and falling short , but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark

Michelangelo

It’s a bit of a stretch to be assigning this into startup quotes. But at the same time, I can’t argue with the theme and what it represents for the startup world and goal setting.

Startups often are epitomes of aiming too high, setting extremely high standards, some achievable and some fantastic goals. Not all of them are easy, practical or even set in stone. A lot of those ideas develop with time and some of these end up being the unicorns to dream about passionately.

Big hairy ass goals

Whenever we pitched our ideas – we were commonly asked about our BHAG – big hairy ass goals. Yes they very much represent what the words say – the optimistic and extremely nice to have goals which we want to stretch for.

The beauty of these goals was that they encouraged us to keep the dream alive and constantly keep at it. They were the best company at dark times, They kept us awake at night and woke us up early in the morning. After all who wants to be just practical when you’re thinking of starting up?

The greater danger for most of us – Being practical

I recall a few quotes which says – being practical is the easiest way to achieve mediocrity. Perhaps it is true- after all what is the utility of a practical goal?

Yes we can depend on it, but surely they are tier 2 or tier 3 goals. They will probably satisfy us to an extent but will they fill us with ecstasy?

The idea of practicality is many a time an excuse. It doesn’t let you stretch your imagination wide and think of impossible events – the fantastic ones which allow you to revisit some of the magic in your dreams.

Trade off

I suppose there is a trade off here. This is probably a few challenges I’ve faced talking. They’ve made me a bit circumspect and cautious. This is not necessarily a good thing, but it does let me think a bit pessimistically too.

I’ve previously staunchly opposed pessimism but I do see the value in it. It helps us understand what our real fears are. Sometimes it can help in preparing ourselves mentally should a failure happen.

But it does distract us from the optimism of a dream. I believe it is a fair balance between the two. There’s usually a compromise at the end of an achievement and the choice is to determine which compromises we are willing to make.

We can either err on the side of caution and be always right. Or we can risk being wrong but still aim for the stars knowing that it can bring out so much more in us. After all, isn’t this pretty much the motto of a startup?