Remedy for Couch Potatoes - 'Keep your Goals to Yourself'?

Are you pumped up about a goal that you just have to share? Guess what --- keep it to yourself! Well, that's what Derek Sivers says you should do. I came across Sivers talk today as I sifted through the TED Talks video archive looking for a short and innovative talk that would give me a nice mental quickie. Well, I was rudely disappointed. Sivers' point is that the positive social acknowledgement that we receive when we share our goals will make us work less at actually achieving them. In other words the 'feel good' feeling that you get when you share your goal with others may be the secret ingedient that is turning you into a couch potato. What if in sharing your goals your audience makes you feel like a looser, would the 'feel bad' feeling make you more likely to achieve your goals? To caution people about negativity and those haterzzz is one thing, but to encourage them to keep the goals to themselves...hmmm. Who is he fooling?

Even if you were as resourceful as the dude on Man vs. Wild, by YOURSELF, it is nearly impossible to achieve serious life or career goals without people voluntarily lending you their experiences, methodologies, networks, and attitudinal and mental 'resources'. Additionally, clinicians and psychiatrists will emphasize that goal sharing/social acknowledgment is germane to the recovery goals of addicts, and survivors and victims of tragedies.

I am no social scientist, but to me it seems like choosing not to share your goals with others is like passing GO on the monopoly board and choosing not to take $200 from the bank. It's like waiting for a Payless BOGO shoe sale to finish and then choose to buy 2 pairs of shoes...I think you get the point.


Andre P. Llewellyn©2010