Name: Keep your goals to yourself
Uploaded: 2010-09-02T08:47:00Z
Duration: 2 min 58 s
Description: After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.

Derek Sivers: Keep your goals to yourself

Keep your goals to yourself

After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.

Sharing big plans lights up the mind with a sense of early accomplishment, but that feeling can be a trap. Studies show those who keep their ambitions private work longer and feel less satisfied prematurely, leading to more progress. In one experiment, people who shared their goals quit 12 minutes earlier on average than those who kept silent. The illusion of progress from social acknowledgment can sap motivation before real work begins.