Want To Succeed? Keep Your Goals To Yourself

If you want to succeed, keep your goals to yourself.

A recent study by researchers at New York University says that people who keep their goals to themselves have a better chance of achieving them. The study surveyed the effects goals have on cognition and behavior.

While it's true that surrounding yourself with people who support your goals helps keep you on track, their encouragement may be what's holding you back.

When the study's participants told others about their goals, their intentions were positively acknowledged. While one would think affirmations are enough to give goal-seekers a much needed boost, instead, researchers say, the participants saw the acknowledgments as proof of accomplishment. Feeling good about themselves, their motivation decreased. In other words, they received the reward before achieving the goal.

On the opposing, more hater-related end, family and friends that respond negatively to your aspirations can produce an equal effect on your ability to achieve. Feeling less secure and less supported, it's easier for goal-seekers to view their goals as silly or unreachable and the obstacles to getting there insurmountable.

Slammed If You Do, Slammed If You Don't

Given the research, both positive and negative reactions from family and friends can have equally detrimental effects on your future plans. So, what's a person aspiring to lose weight, finish a project, or come out to family and friends to do?

New Jersey-based nutritionist Erin Palinski tells Men's Health that guys with goals should keep their mouths shut to avoid any negative comments and only trust certain family and friends whom you know will keep you on track.

Once you've established your positive support system, it's important take their cheers as motivation and not celebration of the final goal.