Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them.

First of all, I was immediately turned off by this article when it cited a study from 1933. Sure he used other evidence later, but I've come into the habit of being seriously skeptical of any scientific work done more than twenty years ago.

I may be reading this article wrong, but this seems to fly in the face of Steve Blank's customer development model and other wisdoms that are being thrown around these days. To me, part of putting your plans out there is the resultant pressure from peers to see them through. When an idea is just in my head, nobody knows when I abandon it for no apparent good reason. But when I tell my friends, family, and everyone I meet what I am planning to do, then I better follow through or risk hurting my credibility. I like to call this "going balls deep."

When I did the Ironman last year, I told everyone about it: friends, family and co-workers. I did it on purpose. It was a risk I took, because would I have failed to prepare for the race or finish the race, everyone would have thought I'm a "looser" or "quitter". I used this fear as additional motivational fuel. Also, to my surprise, most people told me I'm an idiot for even attempting an Ironman and that I wouldn't be able to finish it. (Lesson learned: Culturally, here in Eastern Europe 'we' don't have the 'can do' attitude.) That was another huge boost, showing these people how limited their mindset is. It's kind of cheating, because you're using external factors to motivate you, but you need all the "help" to do extraordinary things.

Think of Ali when he was preparing for the Foreman fight --- he used an entire nation to motivate him for the Rumble in the Jungle. Whenever he got a chance, he went on TV and said he would destroy Foreman. He absolutely commited himself in front of the entire world and it worked for him. Foreman, on the other hand, was different, he was more introverted, and although he lost that fight, he was still a great boxer.

So, on a personal level, I strongly disagree with this article. I'd rather strive to be like Ali than accept some mediocre average.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5o-yxwBJuk

Funny, I have noticed this exact same phenomenon in bars.

...It's kind of cheating, because you're using external factors to motivate you...

It's just a tool, and an effective one at that. I use it all the time, especially if I am facing something that scares me a bit.

Inspiring words. The full quote is actually by W.H. Murray, inspired by a couplet of Goethe's (roughly the last two sentences).