Psychologists have demonstrated over the past 80 years a social reality that telling other people your personal goals makes them less likely to happen. When you tell someone your goal, most people react with great support. I’m going to quit smoking! I’m going to start running! I’m going to lose weight! That is wonderful, John! I know you can do it. You are going to be a great success. Congratulations!
You immediately feel wonderful just by being congratulated. Your mind is tricked when you get that feeling of accomplishment – yet you haven’t done any of the work associated with accomplishing the goal. This feeling significantly increases the likelihood that you will not achieve your goal. You’ve already had the great feeling of accomplish – why on earth would you want to do the hard work now?
I am living this advice today. I have a few ‘bad goals’ that I’ve talked about for months that I’ve taken no action on. I have a couple of ‘great goals’ that I’ve kept to myself that I’m wildly successful at (one goal in particular).
I think I’m going to try this more often…
Interesting 4 minute video from Derek Sivers.
