Talking about your goals publicly can be a good way to motivate yourself to do better. However, you may want to wait until you’ve taken the first step before making an announcement to really take advantage of the effect.
Photo by Sam Saunders.
As business blog Inc. points out, it’s exciting to announce your goals on sites like Facebook. You get a bunch of likes and supportive comments that make you feel good about getting started. However, that may not be enough to get you moving. By waiting until you’ve taken the first step, you not only get the accountability, but you also have something to be proud of:
Finally running that marathon? Excited about your new diet? Bursting at the seams over your new project? Good. Keep it to yourself.
Announcing your intent to do these feats will backfire. Resist the urge to reap the barrage of Facebook likes, and gushing comments. The positive feedback you receive from you network will trick your brain into thinking you’ve already accomplished your goal, sabotaging your once-motivated brain to do said feat.
The rush of having everyone express their support is nice. Possibly too nice. If you feel accomplished before you’ve done anything, you might not have reason to get started. Rather than rushing to social media to tell everyone about what you’re going to do, do something first and then report back with your first success.
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