“When Cortez reached America he burned his ships. As a result his men were well motivated.”
I’d like to think that I’m not superstitious, but I know that isn’t true. I definitely think there are things that are bad juju. Talking about plans before doing them is one of those things. There’s no better way to ensure something won’t happen than by talking about it incessantly.
Derek Sivers (Entrepreneur, world traveler and all around awesome dude) wrote about the psychology of this in a blog post that had a very big impact on me. His premise is that if you have a plan or an idea you need to keep it to yourself because every time you talk about it people’s positive reaction to you begins to fulfill your psychological need to actually complete the project. As your tank fills up with platitudes, your drive to actually complete the project diminishes. I’m very familiar with this. I’ve done it myself several times.
When we decided on our plan I was hesitant to share the plan with others out of this fear. We would talk it to death and end up not doing it. But once I realized how deep our commitment was I soon realized that the opposite was true in this particular situation. If we didn’t tell anyone it would be much easier to back out. Starting a public blog and informing your employer that you are definitely leaving at the end of the year is a good way to stay focused and motivated.
* the quotation is from The Hunt for Red October for those of you playing at home.
“His premise is that if you have a plan or an idea you need to keep it to yourself because every time you talk about it people’s positive reaction to you begins to fulfill your psychological need to actually complete the project. ”
HOLY SCHNIT. That’s why that happens? It’s always happened to me too, but I couldn’t think of any logical reason. Damn.