6 Ways to Keep Goals to Yourself to Achieve Them

My mother always believed it was best to ‘keep goals and dreams to yourself’ and now, research proved her right!

As creative thinkers and ambitious business people, we all have exciting goals and it is often our first instinct to tell somebody. But, research is proving that it is better to keep your goals to yourself in order to achieve them. In this fascinating video, Derek Sivers explains the research to back it up.

In the TED TV video below, I counted 6 Ways to Keep Your Goals to Yourself to Achieve Them:

1. Write down the goal.
2. Resist the temptation to announce your goal.
3. Delay the gratification that the social acknowledgement brings.
4. Understand that your mind mistakes, the talking for the doing.
5. If you need to talk about it, do it in a way that gives you ‘no satisfaction’. For example say to someone, “I really want to run this marathon, and kick my a** if I don’t.” This holds you accountable.
6. Next time you are tempted to tell someone your goal – zip it!

I think you will enjoy watching this short video as Derek quickly presents the research and explains why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.

“Dreams and goals are two different things. One is a thought the other an action.”

You might like to check out some other interesting articles:
How One Artist Created a Successful Art Campaign
10 Ways to Overcome Mental Blocks and Boost Creativity
How to Find Your Own Artistic Voice