> ...except that announcing your goals makes you less likely to follow through with them. Not exactly. I know that study, and I've seen that Sivers article/tal

> ...except that announcing your goals makes you less likely to follow through with them. Not exactly. I know that study, and I've seen that Sivers article/talk, and it's good. The worst thing you can do for goal-setting is to casually talk about your goals like they're inevitable. Public commitments do help motivate, though. The best might be publicly committing while acknowledging that you're not there. When I talk about my goals, you'll often hear me say, "This is neurosis-inducing, because I'm behind schedule." That, of course, leads to lower happiness levels and higher neurosis levels, but I get a lot more done than most people do. I agree with Derek not to talk about your goals casually to other people. I think public commitments, especially emphasizing that you've still got a lot of work in front of you - I think doing it that way is a net gain.