Why You Should Publicly Share Your Big Goals

Identifying and taking on big challenges is at the heart of entrepreneurship.  A mixture of creativity and execution allows an entrepreneur to accomplish their lofty goals; brute force alone will not work. 

Getting started on the right foot is the most important step.  Here’s one tip I’ve found to be extremely helpful: be very public about your plans to tackle your daunting challenge. 

While it’s tempting to hide in your room and work on your secret plans, DON’T.  Tell everyone you can about what you want to do and really communicate that vision.  Ultimately, you will eventually have to put your name on your work at some point.  If you aren’t willing to do this, you will fail.  Putting yourself out there is frightening, but this is something you have to do sooner or later—might as well do it from the beginning.  There are two very important reasons to do so that aren’t intuitively obvious.

1) If you really want to do this, you need to invest yourself in it. 

And the one thing you definitely can invest is your personal pride.  When we put our name on something publicly, if it fails, we fail.  Fear of a failure is a powerful motivator, and it will force you to focus.  By putting ourselves out in the open, we’ve made a commitment to everyone interested.  And if everyone is watching us, we’ll be forced to do our damnedest to perform at the highest level.  If you’re afraid of the crowd, and you slink back into your corner, you don’t have the guts take on this big challenge anyway.

2) By publicly proclaiming to the world what you intend to do, you create an opportunity for other people to help you.  

If people don’t know what you’re doing, how can they offer to lend a hand?  Rest assured, you will need the help of others in taking on your big challenge. 

So how do you take your plans public? 

Tell everyone you know.

Get on your soap box.   When you meet someone, tell them about the awesome challenge that you’re tackling head on. Reach out to the influential people you know (some people do a better job of maintaining their networks than others).  Know your specifics.  Also, as soon as possible, figure out what your specific needs are: “I’m making great progress, but I really need to find someone to advise me on property insurance issues.”

Use the online presence you’ve built (you do have an online presence right?). 

Write a blog post about it.  Tweet about it.  Send an update through Facebook.  Maybe even make a Facebook group to invite people to.  Also use other internet tools, such as an email list to send updates for instance.

Talking about your big plans to take on the world’s biggest challenge is scary.  You might fail and be embarrassed.  People don’t remember the failures.  At worst, they’ll respect you for being bold, going big, and acting upon your passions.  The ability to use fear and pride to one’s advantage is the difference between an entrepreneur and a dreamer that sits in a dusty corner offering nothing and inspiring nothing.

What’s your challenge? And who are you telling about it?

Kevin Vogelsang is a writer and entrepreneur focused on developing technology for identifying experts that share their knowledge online.  He is the author of 10 Powerful Personas and blogs at KevinVogelsang.com.  Follow him on Twitter @KevinVogelsang.