TED Talk Tuesday: Keep Your Goals to Yourself

Derek Sivers said keeping your goals to yourself will help get them accomplished quicker.

SPONSOREDUpdated 2:14PM • 01/25/16

When you think you have a million dollar idea on your hands, the first thing you want to do is shout if from the heavens. A burst of creativity can be a pretty euphoric moment, so why wouldn’t you want to share it with the world? When you share your idea, chances are you’re looking for a sense of validation and feel like you’re even closer to achieving that goal. But entrepreneur Derek Sivers said in a 2010 TED Talk that you should “Keep Your Goals to Yourself.”

Sivers said there is nothing wrong with being a dreamer and setting lofty goals for yourself, but telling anyone with a set of ears about it can inflate your ego and cause roadblocks to achieving those goals.

“The repeated psychology tests have proven that telling someone your goal makes it less likely to happen,” Sivers said. “Ideally you would not be satisfied until you'd actually done the work. But when you tell someone your goal and they acknowledge it, psychologists have found that it's called a "social reality. The mind is kind of tricked into feeling that it's already done.”

Once you feel that sense of satisfaction after being told you’re a savant for your idea or goal, you won’t have the motivation to complete it. Sivers said if you don't have the will how to keep your mouth shut, you can still announce your goal, but just don’t do it in a grandiose way.

He recommends telling people what your goal or idea is and then listing the steps needed to get there. For instance, if your goal is to run a marathon, add on the fact that you will be training three days a week. Giving yourself avenues of preparation will help you get out of the ego rut.