Stretching Yourself To The Limit
“The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.” – Jim Rohn
Entrepreneurship is a challenging journey that can stretch a person to their absolute limit and it can also be one of the most rewarding journeys of a person’s life. Sometimes, these challenges might seem impossible to overcome. A stretch goal, by definition, is a goal that that cannot be achieved by small improvements, but it requires extending oneself to the limit. Stretch goals are specific, measurable, and big, but obtainable. Stretch goals can maximize potential and can result in big gains and achieved goals for entrepreneurs.
The technology entrepreneurs participating in the 2019 WIRE Accelerator cohort experienced stretching themselves to the limit this past weekend during the Weekend Sprint Challenge. Over the course of 2 days, each company participated in a mini-hackathon to achieve a stretch goal they set for themselves. These goals were centered around progress on their minimum viable product or go-to-market strategy. At the end, awards were presented to the company with the biggest gain and the MVP – most helpful founder.
Why did we do this? Sometimes, we need to push ourselves to focus on a specific goal in order to achieve big results. These big goals can often feel so large we don’t even know where to dive in. By eliminating distractions and focusing on one project, the founders were able to put together detailed onboarding processes, gather big data for product testing, test assumptions, create sales models and build out beta phases of their products. Would they have accomplished these goals? Eventually, they would have. However, they stretched themselves to complete their chosen project which got them closer to their minimum viable product.
For some, the path to the stretch goal might be more impactful than actually reaching the goal itself. Part of the beauty of a stretch is the personal gains and lessons learned throughout the process. The process helps maximize the potential of the business or the founder themselves.
So, you might be wondering where the MVP – most valuable founder – award comes into play. Stretching yourself to the limit often works best when you don’t feel alone in the process. Having a coach, a mentor, an accountability partner, or an encourager, often leads to better results and a higher motivation factor. For this reason, we encourage entrepreneurs to have a support system such as the WT Enterprise Center to help them through the challenging journey of entrepreneurship.
I’m an advocate of stretch moments in life, as an entrepreneur and as a person. These moments motivate you to accomplish goals that once seemed unobtainable, maximize your human potential and become all that you can be.
