Those goals aren't exactly "win the Olympic Games", "make a contribution to P=NP?", etc.
It's good to set goals and meet them, but there are qualitative differences between the experience of completing a major project with substantial uncertainty and a lot of pressure vs. "2009: Make it to a Ruby conference".
Drawing the conclusion that "everyone's vague, important motivations are more a matter of willpower than anything else" is making some pretty major assumptions about the modesty of everyone's motivations.
I don't agree with your comment, but I get what you're saying. I think the guy should be applauded for what he did do - which is substantially more than a lot of people do! He had some goals - he achieved them.
The lesson he learned from this is likely to lead to larger and larger goals - and I'm willing to bet 10 to 1 that he ends up accomplishing a lot over the next ten years as a result of the "little" steps he has taken already.
It's good to set goals and meet them, but there are qualitative differences between the experience of completing a major project with substantial uncertainty and a lot of pressure vs. "2009: Make it to a Ruby conference".
Drawing the conclusion that "everyone's vague, important motivations are more a matter of willpower than anything else" is making some pretty major assumptions about the modesty of everyone's motivations.