Should You Keep Your Goals to Yourself?

Public announcement creates accountability for me. I hate to fail, but I hate even more to fail publicly in the eyes of people I admire. So I deliberately pass my goals out there to make sure I don’t disappoint.

One vote for “make it public”.

For my own part, I tend to get that bizarre “psychological satisfaction of accomplishing the goal without having to actually do the work” thing, and it’s devastating. I need much less talking/planning/dreaming and much more doing.

Apple has put $51 billion USD in the bank by not publicly sharing their goals, or even privately with anyone not directly involved with accomplishing them. That seems to speak volumes to the idea of keeping them private.

I have actually noticed that with some people in the past. Once they tell others it seems to dilute the efforts for the next stage. One in particular wanted to lose 20 kilograms in weight(40 pounds). They lost 5 kilograms and everyone really praised them. Then suddenly the extra 15 didn’t seem as important.
PS. Loved the geek advertisement at the end of the video. Brilliant!

My usual practice is to tell only those people who (a) need to know, because pursuing the goal will change my life in ways that will affect them; (b) share the same or a similar goal and can provide mutual support; or (c) are in a position to help me achieve the goal. Sometimes that means I don’t tell anyone; sometimes it means I tell half a dozen people. And I generally tell them all in the “kick my butt” way Sivers refers to.

I think you’re right about the organizational application: keep it in the family.

Looking back at my own experiences and observation of others, I agree with Mr. Sivers’ assessment. I like the way he clarified how to state your goals without tricking yourself into believing that you have already achieved them. I also like the little commercial at the end of the video! Thanks, Michael.

i wonder if you can keep it to yourself but have accountibility with people by saying “i’m committed to finishing my project X by this date” and have them check up on you. Getting the best of both worlds. I think however for certian things keeping it to yourself reduces the advantage that you have from synergizing with others, or even getting inspired

I think there are many different factors that go into play with goal setting. Different people are motivated in different ways. For some having a secret that no one else knows about could be a motivator. I know that I sometimes work harder when no one knows what it is that I am doing. Being accountable to others could act as a distraction too with everyone checking in on you. When stating your goal publicly everyone knows when you fail. If you don’t tell anyone you’re the only one who knows. Maybe the reason people fail after announcing a goal is because that is what everyone expects. I think I will have to do some experimenting too.

I thought of your post previously on accountability and surrounding yourself with the best people when I saw this video. The argument is compelling, however short lived. Yes there is positive responses received but only up to a point. If you tell your mind you will accomplish ‘x’ then announce to your circle of influence that you will accomplish it, how could they not be happy for you?! But if you are telling them again and again that you are ‘going to’ then your mind will surely remind you that you are becoming a broken record and action is required to follow the words…

I believe that keeping your goals as secrets till the achievements themselves tell the story of success is a good idea.

But I see that we can tell few people if they have specific characteristic, so they will be a good supporter for us (but if they don’t have these characteristics keep it as secret better).

Suggested characteristics:
1- Tell the people who support you (Not who loves you), sometimes you find that your mother, for example, although she loves & worry about you, she frustrates you because she wants you to take rest & not to be overloaded or to see you more beside her…etc.
2- Tell people who like challenges.
3- Tell people who aren’t feeling jealousy towards you.
4- Tell wise people who are wise so when you are frustrated, they will take your hand & support.
5- Tell people who are honest, they will not take your ideas & show off…etc.
6- Tell who will share you the goal in future steps, then he can support more.

The goals of the organizations could be a secret between the team better, as many competitors are ready to take the other goals to do, or to harm you when you want to achieve.

Note:
Mr. Micheal
I really appreciate that you declare that you changing your idea about this issue, & I believe this (listening to others) is a very important characteristic you have so you are a successful leader.

Sorry for long comment
Sorry if I duplicate because I could not see my comment
Thank you

I found this post very interesting. Husband and I are on the Dave Ramsey plan. We are busting through Baby Step 2 – get out of debt. With a lot of work and determination, we’ve almost paid half in a year and a half. Unfortunately, it’s easy to tell people are goal of being debt free by Christmas 2011. It seems more possible and probably with every person we tell. It often even feels like we are ALREADY debt free.

But then we have a budget meeting and– whoa! What’s this? We are still in debt?! And still more than halfway with only a little over a year to get er done! (gulp) I’d like to show our goal with our actions than talk any more about it.

I believe as humans we can use our awareness, intelligence, and free will to counteract instinct.

One of my wise instructors said once that we must get away from wanting. Why? Because we pour all of our energy into the wanting leaving no energy for action to move us toward the manifestation of the goal.

It doesn’t mean not wanting or setting goals, it means not getting caught up in the wanting and daydreaming and talking up of the want/goal and instead focusing on creating the want/goal.

It’s an easy trap to fall into, but I believe we are blessed with intelligence and the ability to decide; so, we can choose to both announce a goal and focus our energies to achieve the goal.

I believe it may not be a case of either/or – rather, it could be both, depending on personality types. One possible perspective is introvert/extrovert; another is confident/inconfident.

In my experience, however, progress is generally stimulated either through genuine passion or by pressure, the latter of which can be positive or negative – think reward and punishment, or bonuses and deadlines if you will.

On an organizational level, external pressure is the preferred method since just about anyone is capable of setting a deadline, which also comes with two other benefits: measurability, and the subsequent production of positively pitiful PowerPoint presentations (sorry about the alliteration, sometimes I can’t help myself).

Here’s a challenge: try graphing the passion level within your organization and present it in PowerPoint format. I dare you.

Genuine passion is HARD to come by, and doesn’t fit into square boxes. That’s why it’s not widely used in organizations.

On a personal level, it’s far easier to exploit passion – but all of us could use a little nudge every now and then, which is why, regardless of your personality type, openly announced goals should come with a deadline attached.

Failing all else, I’ve seen more than enough cases where pending public humiliation has served as a sufficient motivational factor to get to done.

I think that the revealing of goals is a matter of timing. As Derek describes, telling someone a goal before you have accomplished it has the potential of causing more harm than good. However, I think that sometimes we need to reveal our goals while IN THE MIDDLE of a project in order to jumpstart our creativity or even just because we need some encouragement.

Goal sharing in business is a must. If you don’t know what your managers yearly Performance Management goals are, how do you know you’re effectively working to help them reach them and not in the other direction.

My experience is though that most managers don’t share them and you have to guess what they are, which never works. I have found being transparent with my directs works well. They know what goals are exclusive to them and which are shared ones. This ultimately the shared ones across the entire team and me get more due care and attention; which in my opinion is the right thing to do.

Now personally where you don’t have your own manager who will kick you to get things completed I could see how this could work. I’d like to think I’m quite motivated but can still see examples where this has followed true. Although there are times when not, as sometimes once I set my mind to something, don’t try to stop me as I’m like a speeding train.

It all depends. To whom you tell and what you tell. Going public has different implication under different context. In case of your personal goals, there can be no harm in sharing your goals with dear and near ones. But, when it comes to your office peers and superiors, you need to be careful. When you declare something, you become transparent and vulnerable. Therefore, when someone is keen on pulling your legs, it is better to keep your goals to yourself and tell them after you achieve the same. For it is said in Proverbs 12:23 that “a prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly.” Therefore, use your discretion and tell your goals to someone only when that person is trustworthy and it will benefit you in the end. Otherwise, going public will bring more obstacles in our journey rather than assistance or comfort.