Increasing accountability can be a wonderful tool. I have many friends who take exercise classes or work with a trainer on a regular schedule to keep themselves exercising. Music lessons work in the same way; after we have paid the money and form a working relationship with our instructor/trainer, we have greater incentive to “get our money’s worth” and work harder for our instructor’s praise. Other people make their business goals public and are thus able to gain valuable PR, build tribes (aka fan bases), and raise capital. Sharing goals can also be a great way to bond with a community.
However, I question whether external validation, pressure, and support are enough. Perhaps they’ll give us a boost when we need one and help get us through the hard times. But we shouldn’t forget the importance of internal commitment. How highly do we value our goals, and do we value ourselves highly enough to see them through? What do we actually care about? How can we best support ourselves? And at what point do we need to reevaluate our goals and adjust as necessary?
I don’t think the answer is to eschew public goal-making altogether. Rather, I think it’s important to pay attention and make sure that stating our aims publicly is having the desired effect. If we realize that telling other people what we mean to do is making us feel like we’ve accomplished more than we have, we can compensate for that fact by giving ourselves “extra” to do. If we realize that we often share plans that we don’t follow through on, then we can stop sharing and see if there’s a noticeable difference. If we have systems in place that work well at increasing our accountability, then we can keep on doing what works.
We are not cookie-cutter creatives; we are not one-size-fits-all human beings. As a result, so much advice and so many rules turn out to be over-simplifications. When thinking advice over and deciding on a best course of action, here’s what I try to remember: do what works.
Excellent point at the end there.
Thanks, Jeff. I got a little excited by the alliteration of cookie-cutter creatives, I have to admit. 🙂
I’m a very private goal setter and I’ve often wondered if I was missing out on something. Good to know that’s not necessarily the case:)
I tend to be more on the private side too, and the more personal the goal, the less likely I am to want to share it with a large number of people. Apparently we’re doing just fine! 🙂
Stating my goals to others has never helped me to achieve them. I can’t tell you how many good ideas I’ve told people about and how much enthusiasm and support I’ve received. Did it help me follow through on those ideas? Nah.
The doing is much more important than the sharing. I think by sharing I’ve been fooling myself into thinking I’m really doing something. That sounds ridiculous, I know.
Thank you so much for posting this. Just what I needed to read.
I don’t think it sounds ridiculous. I’ve fallen into that same trap. Unfortunately sharing is no substitute for personal dedication. Perhaps this is why I sometimes get irritated when people push for me to do something too hard. You can’t force another person to have strong dedication to any particular goal or idea; I think it has to come from individual drive.
Interesting post! Thanks for leading us to that study. I’ve heard and read studies that express the opposite as well.
I imagine that our personal confidence in our ability to strive toward or reach our goals can greatly influence whether sharing them will help or hurt…along with many other factors–perfectionism, anxiety, who we share them with, etc.
I love your conclusion: “We are not cookie-cutter creatives; we are not one-size-fits-all human beings. As a result, so much advice and so many rules turn out to be over-simplifications. When thinking advice over and deciding on a best course of action, here’s what I try to remember: do what works.”
Yes, exactly! There are studies that support both ways. But I think it’s simplistic to give blanket advice, when people may have personality traits or circumstances that affect what they’re doing.
To me, those aren’t enough. Actually, publicly validating my goal makes me not wanting to follow my goal. It’s when I would ask myself, do I really want it or do I say I want it even if I don’t?