Stop Telling People Your Goals (here’s why...)

August 10, 2025

Ever tell someone you’re gonna do something big… and then just never do it?

You get all hyped, talk about it, people say “wow that’s awesome”… and then nothing.

Turns out it’s not just you being lazy…

researchers at NYU found that when you announce your goals, your brain gets a fake “mission accomplished” feeling.

In their experiments, people who kept goals private were more focused, worked longer, and actually accomplished more than those who shared them.

The NYU Discovery

Back in 2009, Professor Peter Gollwitzer and his team at NYU decided to test a simple but brutal question, does telling people your goals actually help… or does it secretly screw you over?

They tested it… and:

🔸 people who kept their goals to themselves worked for around 45 minutes on them.

🔸 people who announced their goals to others? Barely 33 minutes…

The reason is something called symbolic self-completion.

Basically, the moment you say your goal out loud and get a “that’s awesome” from someone, your brain acts like you’ve already done the hard part.

You get a little fake win… and your motivation tanks.

Weirdly, this hit the most committed people the hardest, public praise made them lose steam faster than anyone else.

The Dopamine Trap

Your brain rewards you just for talking.

🔹 Set a goal? Dopamine hit. ✅
🔹 Tell someone about it? Dopamine hit again. ✅

That little rush feels amazing… but it’s a trap!

You start feeling like you’ve made progress when you’ve actually done nothing.

Do this enough times and your brain literally learns to chase the high of talking about goals instead of the grind of actually hitting them.

When Sharing Actually Works

Sharing isn’t always bad, it’s who you tell that matters.

🔹 High-status people - Ohio State researchers found that telling a mentor, coach, or someone you respect can boost your motivation. You don’t want to look lazy in front of them, so you push harder.

🔹 Accountability beats announcements - An APA meta-analysis showed that regularly reporting your progress makes you way more likely to follow through.

So, here’s what you should do:

🟧 Keep most goals private so you can focus, and work longer.
🟧 Share a few with someone who’ll call you out if you slack.
🟧 Talk about progress, not just the dream.

Tools & Resources

▫️ Atomic Habits - An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.

▫️ Mind Lab Pro - Brain supp for focus and mental stamina.

▫️ Habitica - Turn your goals into a game with streaks and rewards.

▫️ Clockify - Free all-in-one goal tracker app.

Read Next

Thanks for reading 🙏

If this hit home, share it with one friend who’s always talking about their goals but never moving the needle.

See you next week,
now go actually do the thing:)

— Ernest

P.S. If you want to read previous newsletter issues, head over to EnhancingBrain.com