You can't score a goal unless you have one

I once heard a high school math instructor issue this challenge at a school assembly: “I hope you all fail,” he said, to an audience of high school seniors, eager to go out and conquer the world. “Because if you don’t, you haven’t set your goals high enough.”

You can get by without setting goals. Most people do. They fall into a routine and inertia carries them through life. They never suffer great disappointments in their work, but they never get very far along the career path either. Then, before you know it, it’s all over, and they realize that they could have accomplished so much more if only they had been willing to risk failure.