Keep Your Goals To Yourself

Contrary to common sense, research finds that expressing one's desire to do something may inhibit one from doing it.

In tests, some subjects made their intention known while others kept it private. Only those who kept their hopes private succeeded in achieving that goal.

As Newsweek explains, "[Researchers] think it has to do with sense of identity and wholeness. We all want to be an idealized person, and declaring our intentions to work hard is a symbolic act. It contributes to the goal of completing who we are, which in this case would be something like: I am a lawyer, a legal thinker, a jurist."

So keep that great idea to yourself!