JonnieCachein Hacker News • Recommends
On “Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump”
Yup, it was Derek Silvers in a TED talk. link to this video Well worth watching. This one is < 4 minutes. Cites his sources.
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Keep your goals to yourself | Derek Sivers
TED
28M subscribers • 27 videos on Rounds
- Recommended by 2 people, in Hacker News, across 4 different months.
- Presented by Derek Sivers, as the video describes them
- Debated among experts. Its central claim is contested, so look for the other side.
For anyone, no background needed. Education, not medical advice.
2M views16 years ago2 recommendations
Brain and nervesMental healthNeuroscience
Derek Sivers explains why sharing your goals with others can decrease your motivation to actually achieve them.
ted.com After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone -- but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at ted.com/index.php/talks/top10Why it's here
2 people recommend thisWhat people say. Recommended as a clear explanation of how announcing plans can trick the brain into feeling a premature sense of accomplishment.
drakonkain Hacker News • Recommends
On “Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?”
Don't tell people your goals. I heard this in a TED talk years ago0. Telling people what you plan to do can evoke the same emotions as actually doing that thing, lowering the drive to do the work to accomplish the goal because you got your emotional reward already. Being a serial starter, I retroactively noticed this pattern in myself when I heard this. Now, when I want to do something new, I shut up about it until I either complete it or have enough momentum in the project to have reached critical mass. 0 link to this video
drakonkain Hacker News • Recommends
On “Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?”
…things while I am excited about them has a negative impact on my drive to actually do the thing. I did not really put two and two together until I saw this talk0 many years ago and it clicked. So now no matter how excited or motivated I am about a goal or new idea, I try to keep it to myself until I've made some threshold of actual progress. 0 link to this video…
drakonkain Hacker News • Recommends
On “Ask HN: What thought (or idea) has changed your life the most?”
"Keep your goals to yourself" from this TED talk I saw more than ten ago: link to this video I revisit it every few years as a reminder and have been following this advice ever since I first saw it If I talk about my goals or something I plan on doing too soon, I'm less likely to follow through with it. Now I shut up and don't talk about it until I have enough momentum.
dsteinin Hacker News • Mentions
On “Microsoft hopes to bury iPhone, Android”
Microsoft's mentality reminds me of a recent TedTalk: link to this video The researcher concludes that when you tell others what you are going to do, that your mind tricks itself into believing that the task has already been achieved, and reduces the incentive to do the hard work to actually achieve it. Thus, when Steve Balmer gushes to the press and says that iPhone is going to get obliterated, it probably reduces the chances of that actually happening.
JonnieCachein Hacker News • Mentions
On “Help HN: Commit to something publicly here.”
As I mentioned in the other thread, there is actually plenty of evidence against this view, evidence showing that publicly announcing your goals actually reduces your motivation. Here is the same short TED talk I posted on the subject in the other thread: link to this video Don't mean to rain on your parade, just trying to get all the relevant numbers out there. Your brain may vary.
bevanin Hacker News • Mentions
On “Show HN: Burn the Boats – A free goal-setting platform based on research”
…ate, Burn The Boats gives you the benefits of social accountability without the motivation-sapping effects of sharing your goal immediately. I'd appreciate your feedback on any aspect of the site (concept, design, copy, etc...). Thanks for reading! Cheers! Bevan ps. I've vlogged the process of building the app, which you can see here: link 1 [video ]…
agotain Hacker News • Mentions
On “Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)”
I'm not the person you replied to, but... Could it be Derek Sivers' TED Talk "Keep your goals to yourself"? link to this video