FBC – 115 – The Art Of Setting Realistic Deadlines

The Art Of Setting Realistic Deadlines. Today, we are going to talk about how you could set up deadlines and avoid disappointments by simply being honest with yourself.

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So I just watched an interview with Kobe Bryant. So Kobe Bryant is one of my idols.

It's from a like a basketball standpoint. He's like an idol of mine. But what I appreciate about him is his work ethic and everything he put in to get to that level. All right. So I knew stuff about him but there was stuff I didn't know that I discovered during that interview. OK. Which actually makes me like the character even more.

One thing I didn't know about him is that when he was eleven or something or eleven 12 he went to this thing which is a bunch of kids like the best kids they play in this league and stuff you know. So he went there. He was coming back from Italy because he used to live in Italy and he played in the league.

And what I didn't know, because I've always known him as a star from high school because he jumped from high school straight to the NBA and was a global celebrity even when he was 16. But before that when he was eleven or twelve, he sucked. He said himself. He spent the whole summer playing there.
And he didn’t score a single point… nothing.

Which was surprising for me. So people think that athletes and stuff, they're born with a talent and stuff but you know very often you have to put some work into developing a talent or to create that talent.

So what Kobe Bryant did was, he realized that the kids he was playing against had an edge over him because they were more athletic and they were bigger. And he knew that if he wanted to catch up to them, he would have to put a lot of work in, which is not a new concept.

I told you you'll need to put in some work with what you want to do. But the interesting part and the reason why I wanted to shoot this podcast was that he realized that the gap between them was so big that it wasn't going to be bridged in a week or tomorrow or anything. He realized that it was going to take time for him to get there. And he was happy with taking that time. All right. And so that's the reason why I want to talk about this.

As you may know, I was in a situation where I couldn't walk. I was in a wheelchair for a while and the doctors told me to forget about basketball, just do something else. Collect some stamps, play harmonica or something but do something else. Well me I wanted to play basketball right. So I knew at that point because I couldn't walk, I couldn't run, it's not going to be tomorrow.

It's not going to be in a week because of all the injury, the trauma and stuff. But I am going to take the time to get there and this is what resonated with me when I heard Kobe Bryant say that is that you know sometimes you have the subjective and for whatever reason it's a fast paced society and you want everything now and have immediate gratification.

Right. So you may be in a situation where you think “you know what I want to change my life. I don't like my job, but I like where I live and I like my stuff” like that you know and you want to start a business right. And you hear all these stories about people saying oh man I started a business in like two days. I was profitable and now I'm traveling and stuff.

A lot of people are selling you the dream of it just happening like that. And this messes up your expectations you know. So your expectations are. “I want it now. I know it's really sad because if it doesn't happen during one week then you get disappointed and then you give up.

The Art Of Setting Realistic Deadlines.

All right. Just because you didn't set the right expectations and having the presence of mind you know. Yeah. Being able to set the right expectations and be honest with yourself, saying well you know what? I know this is going to take some time but I am going to work at it every day every.

I don't want you to get the wrong impression that it is going to happen tomorrow. So, if from the get go you have this mentality of Right OK. It's going to take me two years. I know it's going to take me two years and you know I'm just going to work at it every day. And you know as long as it's under two years, then you're not stressed.

Don't be afraid to set a goal which is like two years or like five years down the road if you're honest with yourself and you see the work you have to put in and the gap you have to bridge right. One thing as well is that in order to achieve great things you need to go through challenges and mistakes and all that stuff.

And only time can help you make those mistakes and learn from them right.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you set realistic deadlines for your projects?

Setting realistic deadlines starts with honest time estimation, then adding a 20 to 30% buffer for unexpected interruptions. Most entrepreneurs underestimate task duration by 40%, a phenomenon known as the planning fallacy. Break large projects into phases with individual mini-deadlines so you can track progress and adjust before the final due date arrives.

What happens when you set deadlines that are too tight?

When deadlines are too tight, quality drops, stress spikes, and you enter a reactive panic cycle that becomes harder to break. Research shows that unrealistic deadlines cause 60% of project failures among solopreneurs. Tight deadlines also erode trust with clients and partners when you consistently deliver late or rush deliverables that fall short of expectations.

Is the art of setting deadlines something you can learn?

Absolutely, setting realistic deadlines is a learnable skill. Start by tracking actual time spent on each task type for two weeks. This data reveals your personal time patterns. Over time you will build an accurate internal model, and your deadline estimates will naturally become more precise, reducing last-minute scrambles and improving your overall productivity significantly.

What is the difference between a deadline and a goal date?

A deadline is a fixed commitment with real consequences if missed, such as a client delivery or product launch. A goal date is an internal target you set to pace your progress. Using both gives you flexibility: work toward goal dates aggressively while protecting deadlines with a realistic buffer of at least 2 to 3 extra days for complex tasks.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Related Reading

• FBC – 4 Part 1 – This is the story of my life: Success, Failure and The Hurdles.
• FBC – 3 – Escape your life of sacrifice! Don’t settle for less than your dream lifestyle.
• FBC – 8 – The Weirdest Challenge To Boost Your Confidence
• Other really cool tips that will give you an unfair advantage

Further reading

• LinkedIn Newsletter (Diary of a Virtual CEO): operational tactics covered weekly in the LinkedIn Newsletter (Diary of a Virtual CEO).
• Martin's story page: the full origin story on Martin's story page.
• HubSpot Blog: sales and marketing benchmarks on the HubSpot Blog.
• Harvard Business Review: research on solo and founder-led operations from Harvard Business Review.