R’ Aryeh Leib, son of the Chofetz Chaim, was a child genius. Once he had the occasion to present a Talmudic lecture to a group of exceptional scholars, whom he dazzled by resolving a difficult problem raised in the Shaagas Aryeh. The listeners were impressed and expressed their admiration. The young Aryeh Leib was flattered and responded, “I hope one day to be able to resolve all of the Shaagas Aryeh’s difficulties.”
Uncharacteristically, the Chofetz Chaim stood up and publicly rebuked his son: “Such talk will never let you develop into a really great scholar.” When relating this story, R’ Aryeh Leib would say, “And sadly, my father’s words came true.” ~ The Pirkei Avos Treasury
Emuna Daily 
What is the lesson to take from here? It’s unclear. I would think that it’s commendable to set tough goals?
What I took away is, say little and do much. I think it is commendable to set tough goals, but until you accomplish them, don’t be overly confident and certainly don’t show off. Humility is one of the hardest and most important traits one should strive for, which I think the Chofetz Chaim was trying to teach his son.
It also reminded me of one of the quotes I posted a couple of weeks ago which taught that one should not talk about his intention to do a mitzva, but should rather just do it. Once you voice it your intention, for whatever reason, it becomes much more difficult to actually accomplish it.
Thanks for the comment.
Jeremy,
Thanks for clarifying. This makes a lot more sense – that by stating a lofty goal, one is not acting with humility. Or at the very least, just because he answered one question, doesn’t mean he should think he’d be able to answer all of them. First, have some substantial accomplishments. Does that sound right to you?
Best,
JK
Correct. At least, that is what I took away from it. In my opinion, humility is one of the greatest traits. I have heard that one can be proud and in essence show off his Torah accomplishments. For instance, one should be very proud to make a siyum on something and invite people to the siyum and publicize it. That is because amongst other things, it could have a positive effect on people and it is a tremendous Kiddush Hashem. But that is because he already accomplished it. Talking about what he hopes to accomplish, especially something very difficult, borders on being a showoff. R’ Aryeh Leib was obviously a huge tzaddik and was held to a higher standard, but I think it is something we can all learn from.