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.

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

Studies show announcing goals leads to a 12-minute reduction in effort towards achieving them compared to keeping quiet.

Announcing goals can hinder achievement; psychological studies suggest it reduces motivation by creating a premature sense of completion.

Sharing your ambitions may backfire, leading to less time spent on goal-directed activities due to 'social reality' satisfaction.