Ep 3 - BHAGS In Your Personal Life: Why an Acadia National Park Trip is a Good Lesson For Leadership

In this mini episode of Scale Without Chaos, Samantha Riel reflects on the power of starting small when chasing big goals, both personal and professional.She opens with a personal story. Back in 2018, she set a big, bold goal to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks. But for seven years, she made no progress, stuck on the idea that she needed to start with something iconic like Yellowstone and save her local park, Acadia, for last.That changed this past weekend. For her birthday, Samantha spontaneously booked a campsite, packed up her husband, son, and dogs, and visited Acadia. It was a short weekend trip, but it ended with something magical: watching the sunrise on the summer solstice from Mount Cadillac, the first place in the U.S. to see the sun. Rain or shine, the trip became one of their favorite family memories.She ties this back to business by introducing the concept of BHAGs—Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals—a term coined by Jim Collins. These are the kinds of ambitious goals we often set in business, but rarely start, because we overthink the beginning or wait for the perfect conditions.Samantha encourages listeners to revisit the goals they’ve been avoiding and ask:Am I the one getting in my own way?Her advice: Start with what’s close, easy, and accessible. Because sometimes the best progress comes from simply starting, even when it isn’t perfect.