[serverholic]

Definitely agree with #2, especially with big goals (or what they call BHAG in the article).

Seriously, go around and tell people that you want to write a new york times best seller and see what kind of reactions you get lol. Talk about destroying your motivation quickly.

[mr-wendel]

I think it's a trap either way. The flip side can also be just as problematic.

Having people sincerely wishing you the best, congratulating you on your initiative and dream-chasing tends makes it feel like you're doing something positive. All you've done, however, is talk about it and are already getting rewarded. That undermines real motivation to start/continue far too easily.

Let those rewards come naturally and from within with actual progress.

[Jtsummers]

There was a discussion here on HN perhaps 8 or 10 years ago that led me to realize I was doing essentially that. I talked about getting in shape and other goals, and got an emotional high (of a sort) from the response I got and from thinking about what I would do to get in shape and be able to do once I was in shape. But I never followed through.

Then I shut up about it, and actually got in shape. And when I ran into some people who I rarely saw, and they were shocked by my 40+ lb weight loss and how good I looked, I got that same emotional reward but also the actual reward of being in shape and being able to do the things I'd only imagined being able to do.

Now I discuss what I'm doing with some like minded friends and we keep each other accountable (Hey, how's the running going? Made it a full 10k yet?). But I don't discuss it with other people in general unless it's brought up by them. A kind of happy-medium between the talk-too-much and just-shut-up-and-work modes of operation.

[cuddlybacon]

Another problem is subjecting your goals to backseat driving. I think this is most commonly seen with weightloss goals.