Who is Icarus and what does he have to do with execution?  According to mythology, Icarus along with his father, Daedalus attempted to escape their exile in Crete.  He and his father were imprisoned by the King because Daedalus built a faux cow for the queen so that she could have sex with a bull. This did not please the King.

According to the legend, Daedalus fashioned a pair of wax wings for himself and his son. Before they took off from the island, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea. Overcome by the sublime feeling that flying gave him, Icarus soared through the sky joyfully, but in the process he came too close to the Sun which, melted his wings. Icarus kept flapping his wings but soon realized that he had no feathers left and that he was only flapping his bare arms. And so, Icarus fell into the sea in the area which bears his name, the Icarian Sea near an island southwest of Samos.

So what can we learn about this?  If you aim for the sky then you run the risk of failing to achieve your objectives and you could crash and burn instead (or in the case of Icarus, drown in the sea).  If you try to accomplish too much, you run the risk of failing to achieve anything.   As a result, you need to set objectives according to your abilities.  

You should set your goals that are achievable and if necessary, set the initial goals and once achieved then set your secondary goals.  Always keep in mind what you are trying to achieve.