The more specific we define the outcome, the greater the chance we won't achieve it. In most cases, the more we define the spec, the tolerance, the result, the likelihood of meeting it decreases. We'll likely miss the target, albeit just slightly. But still, by definition we failed. Naturally, we want to avoid failure. And as a result, we often avoid being specific. We make the target bigger to decrease the chance of not making it. Losing weight is more achievable than losing ten pounds within three weeks. Reading more is different than reading fifty books this year.
Being vague reduces risk. It creates comfort and lets us off the hook. And, comfort is the enemy of success. Comfort allows us to put things off, to reduce our standards and to accept a result which could have been better. And, better requires being specific, which leads to failure. Better is born from failure.
Perhaps we should reframe failure. Perhaps we're achieving difference, not failure.
Things almost certainly won't turn out as planned. They will turn out differently. And perhaps different might just be better.