My recent post, “Beware of ‘Decoy Habits,’” spurred a lot of conversation, and it’s clear to me that the subject is much more complex, and interesting, than I initially realized.
Readers made many thought-provoking comments. One reader pointed to research that suggests that talking about a goal can lead to the false feeling of already having achieved that goal. I’ve seen that research, and I’ve also seen research suggesting that talking about a goal can help you stick to that goal by making you feel more committed and also more accountable to the people you’ve told. So it seems to go both ways.
From my own experience—a statistically insignificant, yet often helpful, data point—this is a point on which people differ. Some do better if they don’t talk it up too much; some do better if they tell others what they want to do.
Exhibit A is my former roommate, who told people that she did yoga, and telling them seemed to convince her that she did, in fact, do yoga. Perhaps discussing it undermined her determination actually to do it.
Exhibit B is my friend who is trying to drink less, who says it’s very helpful to her to announce, “I’m cutting back on my drinking, so I’m only having one glass of wine tonight.” For her, telling people adds an important layer of external accountability.
I’m curious: In your personal experience, does announcing a resolution make you more likely to keep it or less likely or neither?
I don’t think it matters much to me whether I announce it or not–I suspect that’s a result of my Upholder nature. How about you?
Gretchen Rubin is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Happiness Project—an account of the year she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier—and the recently released Happier at Home. On her popular blog, The Happiness Project, she reports on her daily adventures in the pursuit of happiness. For more doses of happiness and other happenings, follow Gretchen on Facebook and Twitter.
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