Whether you plan to cure cancer, lose weight or be the world’s best parent, results of a new study suggest you’d do well to keep your mouth shut about it. And not just to avoid annoying other people.

Researchers report that when dealing with identity goals — that is, the aspirations that define who we are — sharing our intentions doesn’t necessarily motivate achievement. On the contrary, a series of experiments shows that when others take notice of our plans, performance is compromised because we gain “a premature sense of completeness” about the goal.

(via the Montreal Gazette)