“Dream the impossible dream” somehow sounds like you’re setting yourself up for failure. I mean “the impossible dream”, really? It sounds like I’m making fun of this amazing Man of La Mancha song, but I’m actually not. The point being made is how much do you let your own vocabulary hold you back?

“I’ll try to finish it by Thursday” is much less of a commitment than “I’ll finish this by Thursday.” Also think about who you are saying this to. Is this a promise you’re making to yourself? The engagement level is potentially low with that. Commitment to a client? Maybe now he’s working all hours of the night to make sure he doesn’t disappoint.

Do you want to achieve a goal? Commit to yourself, but also make sure to announce it to a group of friends and also to someone who doesn’t like you and doesn’t particularly care. “I’m going to lose twenty pounds by May 1 to be ready for the summer season” is much more likely to happen if you say that to Biff, who will remind you for the next ten years of the time you were going to lose. weight and it never happened.

This is the consequence factor. The goal is worthy, but you also can’t let down the people who expect you to succeed, and you don’t want to allow the people who would love to see you fail. So who do you tell? Tell Biff, but also tell his wife/mother/son, “I’m going to lose 20 pounds because I love you and I want to spend many happy, healthy years with you.” That’s a double incentive.

Keep your dreams/goals/expectations alive by expressing them in positive language. Reinforce that with a public announcement from them. These two steps will make your not impossible dreams come true. Dream the possible dream and reach the achievable goals.