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If your goals don’t sound a little crazy to most people, they’re not big enough.

In this episode, I share why I think there’s an element of good delusion behind every big goal, how I’m approaching my goal of building a seven-figure business in a year, and why I’m completely unattached to whether it happens on that exact timeline.

This is about setting goals as a CEO that both excite you and force you to grow!

Key Takeaways

• Why I’m setting a seven-figure goal, but not a plan
• What I focus on when I can’t see the full path yet
• How to know when a goal is crazy in the right way
• The real reason you’re making your goals smaller
• How to not let other people’s doubt become your own

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READ THE EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Emily Hirsh: 

I think it’s important that you do go after really big goals that are crazy. I don’t want the status quo. I don’t want the average. I don’t want what everybody else already knows is possible. I want extraordinary. I want unheard of. . I think it is good to be delusional to what’s possible because if you’re constantly thinking about what’s realistic and what’s reality, you’re gonna just keep yourself in what’s already been proven all I’m gonna do is go all in on pursuing and falling in love with the process of hitting that goal.

Embodied CEOs don’t chase trends. They pave the way they lead from within. Move by purpose, unshaken by noise. When you are the source, you do not need permission.

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I hope you guys are having an amazing week. I am super excited. This week, I am putting on the ultimate Facebook ads challenge. It’s been a while since we put this challenge on, and I just updated the whole experience of the trainings every day, like the way we’re laying out the challenge.

I’ve probably run this challenge like 10 times, and it just gets better each time because we learn and we get feedback and we grow as a team in our implementation. So this is our biggest challenge yet in terms of number of registrations, and I’m super excited because it is like the most productive experience we put on because we actually help you get an ad live.

So if you’re listening to this day of, the challenge just started. You could still jump in, embodiedmarketing.com/challenge. But I am pumped, and I know that my week, like that is my only focus this week, is to pour into the thousands of entrepreneurs who have signed up for this challenge. So lots of updates.

I haven’t recorded a podcast in a few weeks. I know we still released them, but I haven’t been in the studio. I was out of town, and it was super nice going out of town with my kids. I traveled solo with my kids and forgot how, even though my kids are older, how exhausting that was. Even though I was with my family, and part of the time I did have my nanny, but as soon as she left, I was like, “Wow, this is a lot of work,” even with my kids older.

But it was really fun, really good time. The new business launch is in full force, and some of what I wanna talk about today is inspired just from that experience. But I am very much tracking and sharing our first goal, which is 30 days to profitable, so being a profitable business within 30 days. And then my big goal is a seven-figure business in a year, and it is…

It’s on track. Let’s say it’s on track, but we’re working hard to get there. I should say my partner is doing a lot more of the boots on the ground work hustling, and I’m overseeing, and it’s been really fun. So today I wanted to talk about this because, I was thinking about this concept as I was driving.

And I was thinking about how whenever I do something, like launch this new business or launch something new in Embodied go after a big goal, there is 100% an element of delusion behind it. Like, I am not afraid to go after a really big goal that is unrealistic. And to be honest with you, sometimes I will be like, you know, planning something out and maybe in Claude, right?

Typing to it and going like, “Here’s my goal. Let’s backtrack the numbers,” whatever. And I would say like most of the time it comes back and is like, “Slow down. That’s not a realistic goal.” Like, let me reality check you a little bit.” And so I was thinking about this and thinking about how important that is as an entrepreneur.

But the only way to be able to do that is to actually also, in the same token, be unattached from the outcome. Meaning, I think there’s two key ingredients to going after really big goals. And first what I wanna say is I think it’s important that you do go after really big goals that are crazy. And I’ve had a lot of people, you know, say to me like, “That’s crazy,” or that’s, like, that’s not really reality or whatever.

And it’s like, yeah, but if I was just basing everything off of, quote, “reality,” then that’s boring, and I don’t want a boring life. I don’t want a normal life. You know? I don’t want the status quo. I don’t want the average. I don’t want what everybody else already knows is possible. I want extraordinary. I want unheard of.

And it doesn’t always have to be that way, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t pursue that. And so I think there’s two key ingredients here. I think there is an element of good delusion. I think it is good to be delusional to what’s possible because if you’re constantly thinking about what’s realistic and what’s reality, you’re gonna just keep yourself in what’s already been proven or what is easy or what’s like, yeah, that’s a safe bet for me to take on this goal or this growth or this thing you wanna do, like whatever it is.

But then I also think in order to do that, you have to be unattached from the outcome. Meaning, if you don’t hit that goal, then you’re fine with it. Y- you know that you did everything you could to possibly hit the goal, and so you’re like, “Whatever. On to the next thing.” And these two ingredients, like when I look at building this new company, is something I’m doing.

And I’m noticing in my partner, he’s more, because he hasn’t done this before, he’s more like worried if we don’t hit a goal because he doesn’t wanna let me down. And I’m like, “I’m good. As long as we did everything that we possibly could, if we don’t hit the goal, it’s fine.” And I’ll share that, you know, because I’m sharing everything publicly, so there’s that like added element of visibility to it.

But I’ll share that and then share what we learned and what we didn’t learn. The only thing that I can control is how we show up and the actions we take. So let me back this up and kinda put it in a formula for you. First of all, I think that when setting a goal and going after something, anything in your life, that could be a specific thing in your business, it could be a revenue goal, you know, it could be a personal goal, a trip that you wanna take or weight that you wanna lose, whatever.

I think it is important to be a little bit delusional to what’s possible and believe in something that other people are gonna be like, “That’s crazy,” because that is, m- you know, not the norm. Now, I’m not saying I’m gonna launch a company and it’s gonna be at $10 million in a year. There’s, like, a little element of reality to it, right?

Like, I do believe it is actually possible to launch a company, be profitable in 30 days, and seven figures in a year. I think it will take definitely dedication and hard work and strategy and pivoting, and it will take a lot to get there. I don’t think it’s gonna be easy. I think that it’s going to be

You know, there’s a chance that we don’t hit it But there’s a little bit of reality, right? So you set the goal that’s like, I could possibly hit that goal. But it also is a little crazy. And most people would be like, “That’s too big. That’s not reality,” right? Like, you know, if you looked up statistics of how many businesses get to seven figures in a year, it’s probably not very many.

I have no idea what it is ’cause I don’t waste my time looking at that stuff. But again, it’s not necessarily the norm. So first you start with that, right? You start with that goal that when you set it, you have to, number one, believe that it’s possible. That is a key. And I can’t force you to believe something’s possible.

So you have to find what that is that you’re like, “Yeah it’s a stretch. It will take intention. It will take effort. It will take me working hard. It will take me being focused,” whatever. “But I do believe that I could hit the goal.” Because if you don’t believe it’s actually possible, then you’re already doomed.

Like, I fully can see this. Like, you have to believe. Just like they say all day long you could say a goal and you could say it logically, but if you don’t actually believe it in your body and believe it deeper down, you’re probably not gonna hit the goal. So you gotta choose one that you do … Like, you can see it happening.

You do believe that it could happen. But push yourself a little bit. Like, screw normal. I say this all the time to my friends, like, I know I’m a little crazy. I know that what I go after and the speed and the relentlessness and the ambition that I apply in business and life is crazy. I know that. But I’m like, what’s the alternative?

A normal life? I don’t want a normal life. I want a crazy life. I want, I wanna go big. I wanna have big experiences. Like, I think that’s what I’m here to do. So choose the goal that you believe is possible, but you know it’s a little bit crazy. And there’s, like, that element of delusion where probably 98% of the people that you tell will go, “That’s crazy,” right?

Because everybody that you tell … If I was to go off of my goal of seven figures in a year for this company, everybody that I tell who has never built a seven-figure business yet has not experienced that. And so to them, it feels like the, very much the unknown. And so they don’t understand that, and so they’re gonna go, “Oh, that’s crazy and that’s scary.”

Now, I think this piece c- in combination with this is really important because here’s the thing. If you go after a goal and you say … If I said, “I want to hit this company, I want it seven figures in a year,” or if I said, “Embodied Marketing, I want $10 million in a year,” which is two of my goals. And I believed that it would happen, but I also had this underlying voice and this fear of if I don’t hit the goal, then it means this, and I have a meaning.

It means that I’m not a good enough entrepreneur, that I’m not a good enough marketer because I couldn’t get my business to seven figures in a year. Like, whatever those stories are. If that was driving things underneath the surface, then there’s too big of a risk for me to let that become a reality that I wouldn’t pursue the goal.

So that’s why you have to have, in combination with the delusional view on what’s possible, the unattached connection to the outcome. Both of those things have to be present so that you fall in love with the process. And you pour everything in to pursuing the goal, to going all in, and having that all-in energy, and then knowing that’s the only thing you can control.

And once you’ve shown up that way, you’re unattached. So for me, with this goal with the new company, it’s a little delusional. I mean, you’re talking about an industry that I’ve never been in, that we have no credibil- like, I could list all the things. We have no credibility in Austin. Like, we don’t know necessarily what we’re doing as we build this.

We’re figuring it out as we go. I haven’t built an in-person service business. We have no clients yet, right? Like, well, we do now, but still. Seven figures in a year, and also when you look at, like, the average size company in a, in an in-person service business, most don’t even get to a million dollars. So it’s a delusional goal.

And in the same token, I believe it can happen. I fully believe it. I think it’s already done in my mind. It’s already done. Like, we will be a million-dollar company Now the timeline of a year is my goal, but I’m unattached from it. If we get to a year from now and we’re not there, as long as I know that we went after this with all-in energy, I don’t care.

I genuinely don’t. It doesn’t mean anything to me. It doesn’t mean anything about what’s next. It doesn’t mean that we’re failing. It doesn’t mean that we should quit. It doesn’t mean I’m a bad entrepreneur. It doesn’t mean that my partner wasn’t the right choice, like all those stories, because I know that we attacked it with all-in energy.

We did everything we could, and then there’s like this element of surrender. So with this kind of formula, I’m saying you need You need goals that are delusional. Like give yourself… Delusional in a good way. Give yourself permission to not let yourself be in the box that other people created for you.

And I think with entrepreneurs, this is really common, especially in the beginning, and especially if you have family and friends around you who don’t understand. And I remember in the beginning feeling this way, where I hadn’t yet proved my business. I hadn’t yet made a lot of money, and I didn’t really have a lot of…

My dad was an entrepreneur, but he believed at the time for me that I should go to college and then I should be an entrepreneur and that it was the more stable path and blah, blah, blah. And so I didn’t have a lot of voices around me that were like, “Yeah, you know, drop out of college. Go into this business that we don’t understand what the heck you’re doing online, and you’re gonna be wildly successful, not even a little bit successful, but like multimillion dollars.”

I had zero people saying that, because how could they? They don’t, they didn’t know that was gonna happen. Like, that was completely in the unknown. I didn’t even know that was gonna happen. But what I did know was that I was gonna always be okay And that success wasn’t an option. And then as I would build, I would make the goal bigger.

And I remember the day that I realized a million-dollar business was possible. I think I had done, like, maybe $20,000 that month. I made $20,000. And, you know, I had, like, no expenses ’cause I was doing everything. It was, like, a lotta cash for me. I was 21 maybe at the time. My son was a year, and maybe not even.

And I was like, “Oh, my gosh, if I just made $20,000, $83,000 a month is a million-dollar business. Like, I can 4X this.” And once I believed that was possible, it was done. But my point is, you may not have a lot of people around you that are telling you, like, “Yeah, it’s possible. Go after that. Quit your job,” or, you know, “Pursue the million-dollar business,” or whatever the thing is that’s, like, the reaction you’re gonna get from people is, “That’s crazy,” or, like, there’s their, that doubt.

You know when you tell somebody a goal and you’re, you know in their face that they’re like, “Sounds nice, but you’re crazy”? You want that. You want that reaction from your goals. If you’re not getting that reaction from majority of the people that you tell your goals to, th- I don’t think they’re big enough, you know?

And I do think there’s this balance of, like, every single goal doesn’t have to be this, like, huge, like Let me go smash it goal. But why not, like, these places in your life that you’ve put yourself in a box without realizing that you’ve put yourself in a box, why not just turn the dial up and say, “What is possible?”

Like, ask yourself that question. What do I actually think is possible?” And have that little bit of delusion to what’s possible. So maybe that for your business is a revenue goal. Maybe it’s completely changing the model. Maybe it is an industry you wanna get into that you’ve kinda held back because you’ve been like, “Oh, it doesn’t make sense, and there’s not this, you know, money or whatever.”

You know, those things that are … They constantly keep coming around. They’re on your heart. They’re in alignment with your purpose. Only you know those things. And you’ve gotta pinpoint when you have the voices of doubt that overshadow those. So I want you thinking about this because it’s a good time. It’s, you know, summer.

We can reflect on the rest of the year. I actually just sat down yesterday, and I just felt inspired with where I’m at in my life and wrote down some three-year goals, which is pretty rare for me. I don’t actually plan that far ahead very much. But I have some really big goals, like a second house in the mountains.

You know, just some trips I wanna take with my kids. Like, some goals that do take a little bit of time to pursue. And I sat down and it felt really good to, like, think about those things and think that far ahead and dream that big. And I fully believe that they will all come true. Now, if they don’t happen in three years, I’m fine with it.

I’m unattached. Dispenza says something to the extent of, like, the vision and the dream is up to you. And you have to believe it y- in your body, fully believe it. But the when and the how is not up to you. And that’s the other thing to this, is when you have that delusional goal And that big goal, like what is that thing that gets you so excited?

Like as I’m talking, what is that thing that comes up on your heart that you’re like, “Yeah, that’s the thing I’ve held back because people told me it wasn’t possible, or I told myself it wasn’t possible, or I’ve made it mean X, Y, Z if I don’t hit those things that it means this, and so therefore, then I don’t even try.

I don’t even pursue it.” Whatever that thing is, then you become unattached to the outcome. And then the last thing in this is the how, right? I have this goal of seven figures in a year for this new company. I don’t know exactly how we’re gonna do it because I can’t yet. All I know is our next few steps. I know our next 30 days, the target that I wanna hit for the number of new clients that we get.

I know how we’re gonna do that in like all the areas and ways and strategies and things we’re gonna try. But I don’t… I couldn’t tell you the seven-figure business plan. I don’t have this like grand business plan to getting us to seven figures. I only know the next few steps, and that’s part of the being unattached to the outcome.

Because if you are unattached and you are open so that when you take the next step, then you get the feedback, and then you stay nimble to that feedback and you’re able to pivot, that’s super, super important. So you don’t have to have… Way too many people wait to go pursue a goal like this because they’re like, “I need the whole plan.

I need the A to Z. I need every single step laid out for me because I need to see how it’s gonna work before I go try because I’m too afraid to fail.” I’m not afraid to fail, and so therefore, I don’t need the whole plan because I know that if I had the whole plan, it would be trash anyways because I don’t have feedback yet to understand what’s working and what’s not working.

All I need to know is the next few steps. That’s it. And you know, when I think about my business journey and I think about growing and getting to that first $20,000 a month and then the seven figures, I didn’t even at the time… You know, when I think about my thinking- I didn’t know a million-dollar business was possible when I started, and so I didn’t go into that experience in my first business saying I wanna build a million-dollar business, because to me, that sounded so crazy I wouldn’t have believed it.

But now I’ve built a multi-million dollar business, and so I can go into this n- new business and I can say it’s possible because I believe that it can happen because I’ve done it. And so I have those receipts. And I think as you get closer, and then your vision can expand. Because there’s so much within us of we don’t know what we don’t know.

And it’s like that same concept of when the f- first person ran the four-minute mile, right? And then a bunch of people went and did it. You have to be willing to find whatever that thing is that it’s just enough that you believe it’s possible, and that’s gonna evolve because you don’t know what you don’t know.

And as you figure things out and as you gain experience, which is a big point of the entire human experience is learning through experience, then you expand your horizon of what’s possible. So for you guys, it’s thinking about what is that thing that you do know it’s possible, but it terrifies you? Or you say it and most people, especially n- normal people, think that’s crazy and doubt you And what is that thing that you’re maybe afraid to fail?

And you figure out that, and you get really clear on that, and then you say, “Okay, all I’m gonna do is go all in on pursuing and falling in love with the process of hitting that goal. And as long as I did everything I could with what I had in that moment, right, the tools that I have, you know, as we go in this journey of this new business, I will learn.

I will learn from mistakes. I will learn from feedback. I’ll learn from my partner. I’ll learn from, you know, something I didn’t realize until I saw it, and then I’ll get better. But as long as we are doing everything we can, as long as we are being relentless, that’s a win, you know, in my mind. And I think that’s such an important thing is that element of trust, you know.

And there’s times in business where, you know, my… in Embodied too, where I don’t hit a goal. And for sure, do I get frustrated. I’m like, “We did everything. Like, I don’t understand what I’m missing.” But I also have an underlying element of trust, and I know for whatever reason, I wasn’t meant to hit the goal yet.

There’s more I had to learn. There’s more capacity I had to build. There’s more infrastructure. There’s more process. Maybe I needed that not to work out so that it forced me to think of this thing. You know, when you have something not work in business and life, it usually pushes you to ask different questions and to go, “Okay, well, if this isn’t working, we have to pivot over here and get it to work this way,” right?

So Things that don’t work out how we want them to, or goals that we don’t hit are actually oftentimes gifts because they lead us to then what’s next. So my point in all this is an invitation for you to sit down and think about your business, think about your life. Maybe it’s a life goal. Maybe it’s, you know, a design you want in your life of how much time you wanna spend working or how much help and support you want in your life.

Whatever that is, like, whatever that ideal reality goal is, and go a little big. But you do have to believe it’s possible, right? I don’t believe it’s possible for me to take this brand-new company to $10 million in a year. That I couldn’t get on board with ’cause I don’t think it is possible. I mean, anything is possible.

If I really wanted to do that, I probably could figure it out, but it doesn’t sound fun for me to stretch to that extent. So seven figures, that’s where I’m at. And most people I would tell that to would be like, “That’s crazy,” right? Even I would say my business partner when he first heard that, because he has never built a business, was like, “That sounds crazy.”

But he did believe it because he trusted me, and he’s like, “Yeah, we’re gonna do this.” What is that thing? And maybe it’s a one-year goal. Maybe it’s by the end of this year. Find that little bit delusional that gets you excited. Like, when I think about the goal, it gets me excited. You know? You can feel that energy of like, I’m all in.

I’m excited. I’m in alignment. I wanna pour my energy into this. It doesn’t burn me out. And then also check yourself on what would happen if I don’t hit the goal. Like, ask yourself that question. Okay, if I don’t hit the goal, then what? Then we keep trying. That’s my answer, right? But if your answer is, “Okay, then it means this, it means that, it means this,” or I’m…

And you, or you have fear come up in not hitting a goal, you gotta dig into that because that right there, that fear of rejection, of failure, is keeping you so stuck. I can genuinely say in business, I would say I wish that this applied to some areas in my personal life , in business, I am 0% afraid to fail.

I actually try to fail. I try to do things that don’t work because if I am not doing and trying enough things that it means some of them are not working, like if I’m, if I don’t have some things that didn’t work and some goals that we didn’t hit, I’m not trying enough. I’m not applying enough. We never hit every one of our goals, and sometimes we hit a goal, and it took two months longer, took three months longer, took a year longer.

Sometimes we just miss our goal. Sometimes we surpass our goal Right? But if I ask myself, what happens if I don’t hit that goal? I hit the goal for Embodied, for the new company, specific goals around a launch, the Challenge launch, we’ve surpassed our goal of registrations that we had If I didn’t hit it, I would go, “Did we do our best?

Did we do our best in all the areas that we could control? Okay, then we’re where we’re meant to be,” and I fully trust that. So you have to question that because If that comes up, if you set a goal after this, and then you ask yourself, “What happens if I don’t hit it?” And the emotion that comes up is fear or doubt or you freeze, I can guarantee you that’s a big reason that your business is where it’s at and not where you want it to be.

And then the final thing is, okay, what’s the next step? And, you know, right now in the new company, it’s like every week I’m like, “What are we doing? What’s the plan? What’s the game plan this week?” And we have moved so fast, but we’ve also pivoted and adjusted and, like, shifted and new ideas and changed things very quickly in, in the last week.

Because all I need to know is the next thing, and then I get feedback, and then I know the next thing, and that’s it. So this is your invitation to kind of re-look at, take a step back, look at your goals. Have you put yourself in any boxes? Have you listened to any voices? You know, some of you more than others are gonna have family and friends who are that voice of doubt, and your voice has to be louder.

And maybe you have to minimize how much you hear that voice. Sometimes when you’re building, like, you know, I kind of, if I could go back I never beli- I don’t believe in any regrets, but let’s just say I would have shut out more of the family and friends that, that were telling me, you know, “Go to college.

Don’t do the business. Don’t do this,” because, you know when you just know? Like, you just know that this is the path, but then you have all these voices, and it makes you doubt it. It makes you doubt yourself. That’s a dangerous place to be, and I think at 20 I didn’t have the confidence or the skill set yet to really, like, listen to myself and know that.

I mean, I kept going, but I was kind of miserable sometimes ’cause I was like, “Oh my God,” like, “I’m trying to do this thing that s- I have no idea what I’m doing, and it sounds crazy, and I’m also disappointing my family over here because I had a baby young, and I’m dropping out of college, and I look like a complete failure,” you know?

So it was a little isolating. And I do think a lot of entrepreneurs experience that where they feel that isolation. And so I think also permission to limit those voices or just don’t share it with the people that are gonna make you feel that doubt or feel you know, the fear because your voice has to be louder, and then try to surround yourself around more people that are gonna be like, “Hell yeah.”

You know, entrepreneurs get it. We get it because entrepreneurs are the personality type that go, “Here’s this thing in the future that doesn’t exist.” You know? I’m going, “Here’s this new business that everything you put on logical paper, even if I put it into freaking AI, it would tell me that’s not a realistic goal.”

And I’m going, “We’re gonna do it. I don’t know how we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna do it. We’re creating the reality, right? And let’s go. And let’s go all in, and let’s have fun while we’re doing it, and let’s do everything we can. Let’s learn a ton. And who knows? Let’s see where we are in a year, because I don’t know where we’re gonna be.”

Who even knows, right? But I know that we’re gonna have done our best, believed in the impossible, and had fun with it, period. So there’s your message for today. I hope you guys got something out of that. I was just thinking about that, and this is your permission to be a little delusional with what’s possible, because that’s, in my opinion, the best way to live life.

Like, that concept that I carry with me everywhere of you can have it all, whatever that looks like for you, whatever those things are that you’ve told yourself it’s not reality to do this and that. No, you can. You can. Every single time, there’s always a way. Alright, everybody, I’ll talk to you next time