Page 22 - Hard Goals

Introduction 13

how it’s better to fully implement a half-formed strategy than
it is to half-implement a fully formed strategy. To put it in the
language of this book, we might say that some people believe
that implementing the goal is more important than creating the
goal. And while it’s true that execution and implementation are
important, this idea misses one absolutely critical reality: if your
goal is powerful enough, implementation won’t be such a big
problem.
If my goal was to eat more chocolate cake, I wouldn’t
need to worry too much about my cake-eating execution plan
because I’d be so motivated to achieve the goal that there’s no
way I’d mess up its implementation. If my goal was to enjoy
more amorous encounters with my wife during the week, you’d
better believe I wouldn’t fail to execute. If the goal is meaningful
enough, you will execute.
This is true even for a goal that’s less fun, but similarly
emotionally powerful—like writing this book. This book is
being written on a deadline amidst a period of explosive growth
for my company (some of which is attributable to my previous
book, Hundred Percenters). I am pushing myself to my very
limits to fi nish this and everything else I’ve got going on (heck,
it’s 2 a.m. as I write this sentence). But my execution isn’t wan-
ing for a second because I believe in this book heart and soul
(heartfelt). I can vividly picture everything from people reading
the book to the impact it’s having on their lives (animated). It’s
as necessary to my existence as breathing (required). And it is
forcing me, and all the people who work for me, to grow in
ways I never would have imagined (diffi cult).
People spend way too much time trying to fi gure out how
to trick themselves into implementing mediocre goals. What we