Talking About Our Goals Prevents Us From Achieving Them, According To A Study

Some people tend to believe this idea and, surprisingly, there seems to be evidence to support their hypothesis: talking about our goals keeps us from achieving them. In fact, this has nothing to do with luck, fate or anything like that. There is a logical line connecting these two events.

The first to raise this issue was Derek Sivers, an entrepreneur and researcher of human behavior. It drew on the studies of Kurt Lewin (1926), Wera Mahler (1933) and Peter M. Gollwitzer (1982 and 2009).

On the other hand,  several ongoing studies claim that making your goals and plans public increases the likelihood of achieving them. But why does this happen? How can talking about our goals keep us from achieving them?

Should we talk about our goals?

According to Derek Sivers, the human brain has some “flaws” in its functioning, a direction in which neuroscience also points. One of the most important is that he cannot always distinguish reality from fiction. For example, we can cry while watching a movie knowing that what happens in it is not real.

Because of this, the brain often confuses saying with doing. This mainly occurs when this ‘saying’ is too emphatic or prolonged. A goal is a desire that we envision but have not yet achieved. That’s where the secret lies: it’s a wish. This implies that there is a motivation to make it a reality.

What is “problematic” is that people are very fond of talking about their goals. We do this because, in many cases, projecting an expectation onto another person is an opportunity to live it.

However, talking too much about this goal creates a kind of illusion. The brain begins to generate the feeling of having reached this goal (there is a kind of anticipation of the satisfaction of accomplishment, which diminishes the value of the goal). It’s like getting a “simulated result”.

the cause of the phenomenon

According to the studies cited, this only happens when we talk about our goals with other people. Thinking about them or writing them down, however, does not affect their achievement.

But why does the brain create this illusion of achievement? Because talking about our goals usually produces feedback ; if the objective is evaluated as positive, we may receive recognition for proposing it.

Thus, we may end up treating the objective as a fact rather than a projection of the future. This generates a whole range of sensations that end up “wearing out”, so to speak, the desire to achieve it.

Don’t talk about your goals

It is popularly said that it is better to speak in facts. This is completely true. If we talk less and do more, we’ll probably take better care of our motivation. In addition, we will prevent our brain from falling into its own trap.

Derek Sivers emphasizes that if the goal arouses admiration in others, it ends up generating such satisfaction that achieving it will lose its importance. Therefore, he recommends the following:

• If you want to talk about your goals, do so in general terms and with vague definitions. Don’t mention anything in particular until you’ve actually reached it.
• If you can’t resist the urge to talk about an objective or project, do so by making it clear that it’s still open.

An example to illustrate the first recommendation would be: “I’m adopting some habits to improve my health”, instead of going into details. Regarding the second, it would be: “I intend to read one book a month. If after a month I haven’t done it, scold me”.

Try it. It seems that using others as control elements in the settings mentioned above works.