December 24th, 2025
Here's something that may sound crazy: People who set "reasonable" goals in "reasonable" timelines are less likely to achieve spectacular results.
I know what you're thinking. That's contrary to what you've been taught... be practical, set achievable targets.
But before you conclude I'm nuts, think about this: reasonable goals in reasonable timelines lead to reasonable effort, reasonable creativity, and reasonable results. And in life... reasonable is invisible.
Do you know this little-known story about Howard Schultz? In 1987, he bought a small Seattle coffee company that had operated since 1971. His investors thought he was reasonably ambitious when he projected opening 125 stores in five years. Reasonable goal, reasonable timeline.
But Schultz had a much bigger plan. He wanted to "go public" in five years, a seemingly unachievable goal for a small, non-tech coffee shop chain. His investors thought he'd lost his mind.
But that unreasonable goal forced Schultz to systemize everything, including how coffee was purchased, packaged, delivered, brewed and served. The result? Starbucks completed its initial public offering (IPO) five years later in 1992. The pressure Schultz placed on himself created something magical: relentless mental focus.
We often hear that obsession is dangerous, something to avoid. And yes, destructive obsessions (addiction, compulsion) can destroy lives. But there's another kind of obsession, one that's powered many (probably most) of the world's greatest achievements. The right obsession, directed at a meaningful goal, isn't a weakness. It's the ultimate competitive advantage. Your subconscious becomes obsessed with the problem. You're driving to work, and suddenly a solution appears. You're in the shower, and you realize a better approach. You wake up at 3 AM with an idea you have to write down immediately.
Jeff Bezos didn't just want to sell books online. In 1994, when he left his lucrative Wall Street job to launch Amazon from his garage, friends thought he'd lost his mind. But Bezos was obsessed with an impossible vision: use books as a gateway to revolutionize all retail. He set an unrealistic timeline (dominate online book sales within two years, then expand into everything else). That obsession forced him to ignore the hundred "reasonable" distractions every entrepreneur faces and focus solely on customer experience, logistics, and scale. Today, Amazon ships 1.6 million packages daily and has fundamentally changed how America buys everything.
Or consider a less famous story. In 1998, a mother named Susan noticed her seven-year-old daughter struggling in school. Instead of accepting "she's just not a strong student," Susan became obsessed with a seemingly impossible goal: get her daughter into Stanford. Not someday. In eleven years. Friends called it unrealistic pressure. But that obsession changed everything. Susan researched what Stanford actually valued. She eliminated timewasters (endless playdates, mindless TV, her own social media scrolling) and restructured family life around intellectual curiosity, disciplined study habits, and meaningful extracurriculars. Her daughter got into Stanford at 18, graduated with honors, and later credited her mother's "unreasonable" focus with teaching her how to think critically and work relentlessly toward meaningful goals.
Here's what obsession with the right goal does: it forces brutal prioritization.
You suddenly see how much time you waste seeking validation from strangers on social media. How many hours vanish scrolling through feeds, chasing likes from people who don't know you and don't care about your actual success. Positive obsession reveals these distractions for what they are: theft of the time you need to achieve what actually matters.
Elon Musk didn't build reusable rockets by being "balanced." He obsessed over an impossible deadline (land and relaunch a Falcon 9 booster within a year when aerospace engineers said it would take a decade, if it was even possible). That obsession meant saying no to everything that didn't directly advance the goal. SpaceX now regularly lands and reuses rockets, slashing launch costs by 90% and making space accessible in ways NASA never imagined.
The question isn't whether you'll be obsessed with something. You already are. Maybe it's your news feed, your fantasy football league, or keeping up with celebrity gossip.
The question is: what's worthy of your obsession?
It's got to be something big. Something that would make you incredibly proud when you achieved it. Something others would dismiss as too ambitious in too little time. Because if it's easy, if it's comfortable, if everyone agrees it's "doable," there's no need for obsession.
But when you commit to an improbable goal in an improbable timeline, something that genuinely excites you, something you believe you have the capacity to achieve but only through total focus, everything shifts. Your brain won't let it go. Solutions appear in unexpected moments. Distractions lose their appeal. Priorities clarify.
What once seemed impossible becomes simply a matter of time.
