Should investors share their goals or not?

[Shiloh Lundahl]

In the latest podcast (podcast #245 https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/biggerpoc...) @Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner interviewed the bestselling author Ryan Holiday where they talked a lot about ego (great podcast by the way).  However, they also started talking about goals toward the end of the podcast and they said some things that were contrary to what I understand as far as goal setting and accountability.

The goal setting education that I am familiar with follows the SMART outline (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely).  When it comes to measurable, one of the easiest ways of knowing that a goal has been reached is attaching a number to it, such as I want to lose 10 lbs by the end of next month, or I want to get 5 rental properties this year.  This way you can objectively know if you reached your goal or not.

I have also listened to many other people, podcasts, and trainings where they mention to write down your goals and to share them with others for accountability purposes.  It is easy for me to create a goal in my mind and then never share it with anyone so that I never have to answer for it.

In the recent podcast however, Ryan talked about how when he hears a someone say a specific number with regards to their goals (such as selling a certain number of books) he gets suspicious that the goal is for ego or some sort of comparison against someone else and in his opinion that is dangerous.

Brandon then shared about a study that he had recently read that indicated that when people share their goals the chance of achieving that goal is actually less than if they keep that goal a secret stating that it's like their brain already won so they don't work as hard.

I would like to find out from other BiggerPockets members what their experience about goal setting has been.  Has setting goals with specific numbers been helpful for you or not?  When you set goals with numbers was it about ego and comparison or something else?  Has sharing your goals with others created more motivation and accountability or less?

Thanks for the responses.