Keep your goals to yourself | Derek Sivers

Why HN readers recommended it

Commenters credit it with changing how they handle plans and recommend it as a short, sourced talk.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

TED

Topic

goal setting psychology

Format

talk

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

2

HN mentions in dataset

8

Recommendation years in dataset

2010–2023

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Don't tell people your goals. I heard this in a TED talk years ago[0]. 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 …

• I like to think in public about things I've already done, and think in private about things I'm intending to do. I like blogging about things I've already done because it helps me process and solidify my learnings. Also, explaining something in writing is a …

• "Keep your goals to yourself" from this TED talk I saw more than ten ago: [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 …