This morning I watched a TED Talk by the bright and enthusiastic (at least from this one talk) Derek Sivers. Like every other TED talk I’ve watched, it spoke very immediately to a practise that I’ve been guilty of, but never quite realised I was doing: telling people my goals and then completely failing to achieve them.
According to Sivers (and psychological research stretching back to the 1920s) the act of telling people about something you are planning to do greatly decreases the chance of you doing it. The reason is simple once you think about it. By telling people what you are planning to do, you are already receiving some positive social feedback regarding that activity. Your friends are already enthusiastic and congratulatory*: “Wow, that’s great/good on you/good luck!” Some of the satisfaction in being recognised as a success by your peers has already been transferred to you, and you feel less inclined to actually do whatever it was you’ve planned.
While Sivers’ example is that of, say, losing weight, I think it applies equally to creative projects. While I acknowledge that the support of a writing group or artistic collective can be a great thing (my own output has certainly increased since joining one), it can also be dangerous in that here are people that really want to hear your ideas**. They want to see you succeed, and spilling the beans can be awfully tempting. I recently did something really dumb: I had two seeds of stories half-drafted for Twelfth Planet Press’ Speakeasy anthology and I announced this fact at my writing group, and then again on Twitter. Congratulations and admiration all ‘round, except then I didn’t feel like finishing them. There was no real reason why at the time, just a sudden lack of motivation. I’m fairly certain that what I experienced was exactly what Sivers is talking about, and looking back I can see a lot of points in time where I’ve boasted things and then failed to follow through. Conversely, recent occasions where I have decided to do something and just got on with it have proved to be very fruitful (the most recent examples of which I can’t tell you about, as they are ongoing and I don’t want to jinx myself).
So in the future, I’m going to try and maintain a balance in my goal-setting. I’m going to get as far as I can on the back of my own motivation, and if I run out of steam that way, I can always rely on my friends and peers to give me a pick-me-up (or a ‘put this down and walk away’, if it’s truly awful).
Oh, wait. Damn it! |:
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*If your friends aren’t dicks.
**Again, if your peers aren’t arseholes.
I AM WRITING A THESIS ZAK.
Also, last night I had someone over to record some stuff and then we went to Lou’s folks. I might have time tonight. :)
I totally identify with this. If I achieved 25% of the things I told people I wanted to achieve, then I would be 200% more productive (work that out). It makes sense though, that initial burst of interest often kills the buzz of a good idea. It’s like thinking about drinking a can of coke and actually taking a few sips. Once you’ve sipped, you realise that you only really liked the idea of the coke, and drinking the whole thing seems like a waste of time.
I think part of it is maximising the high of anticipation. By revealing the idea, you lose the anticipation factor and the idea loses that sense of mysterious potential.
I am going through your archives like a stalker-freak (official title, yo). But just as well, because I found this one! I, too, am the biggest offender. Mum has this meme, that is like ‘Don’t tell anyone about a job, before you have it’. She believes if you tell someone–just by letting the words out into the atmosphere–that it will put bad vibes on your chances of success. So, I really identify with this article. Thumbs uppppp <3