Now, there are certain things it’s good to be realistic on — things like spending less than you earn, figuring out how much you can comfortably afford to spend on your mortgage, and judging the safe following distance between your car and the car in front of you.

But for other areas, being realistic is for the birds.

In fact, my new response when someone tells me to “be realistic” might very well become “why?”.

You see “be realistic” often translates into “that’s just the way it’s done — you can’t hope to do better or to do things differently”.

But you can.

You can do things like graduating with a Bachelor’s degree without taking out a single student loan, paying off debt using a huge percentage of your income in a short period of time, going from practically nothing in retirement to $100K in retirement in a few short years, etc.

It takes determination, and understanding that you don’t have to be realistic about things. You can set big goals, buckle down, ignore the naysayers, and make the things you want to accomplish happen.

Why confine yourself to what society deems realistic? Do what you are capable of instead. Give it a try. A good solid try.

What “unrealistic” or unconventional things have you accomplished? What things do you intend to accomplish?