What he's really saying is that he doesn't like deadlines unless they're only one day long and he's allowed to call them "goals."

This only works if the deadline has teeth, i.e. there's a serious "oh sh*t" feeling in the pit of your stomach as the deadline approaches. Otherwise the date just comes and goes with a fleeting thought of "oops", and it's done whenever it's done.

"To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time. "