“Tell people that you’re trying to quit. Don’t hide your attempt because you’re afraid people will see you fail. Most people know how hard it is to quit smoking and that many smokers have to try several times before they succeed. Support can help you quit smoking, and experts recommend getting support from friends, family, and coworkers.”
It is true that ideas that sound good get passed around—but also ideas that are counter-intuitive and not obvious get passed around too—since they make the teller of the idea appear to be smart.
In the case of smoking I don’t think there can be much doubt—getting help definitely helps, and to get help you have to announce your goals—not keep them secret. Is getting support from others beneficial for many goals? Probably yes, for goals of any size. So, I advise taking this advice with multiple pinches of salt.
I would like to be able to distinguish between ‘getting support’ and ‘finding ways to make myself anticipate shame at failure’. They certainly feel different from the inside. I find the motivation from public commitment to be useful in the short term (eg. a night or two of work, tops) but actually counter-productive in the longer term. On the other hand, ‘support’ I associate with encouragement, and the knowledge that there are other people on my ‘team’. That I find useful in the longer term.
Here’s the kind of advice I mean:
“Tell people that you’re trying to quit. Don’t hide your attempt because you’re afraid people will see you fail. Most people know how hard it is to quit smoking and that many smokers have to try several times before they succeed. Support can help you quit smoking, and experts recommend getting support from friends, family, and coworkers.”
http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/quitting-smoking-getting-support
It is true that ideas that sound good get passed around—but also ideas that are counter-intuitive and not obvious get passed around too—since they make the teller of the idea appear to be smart.
In the case of smoking I don’t think there can be much doubt—getting help definitely helps, and to get help you have to announce your goals—not keep them secret. Is getting support from others beneficial for many goals? Probably yes, for goals of any size. So, I advise taking this advice with multiple pinches of salt.
I would like to be able to distinguish between ‘getting support’ and ‘finding ways to make myself anticipate shame at failure’. They certainly feel different from the inside. I find the motivation from public commitment to be useful in the short term (eg. a night or two of work, tops) but actually counter-productive in the longer term. On the other hand, ‘support’ I associate with encouragement, and the knowledge that there are other people on my ‘team’. That I find useful in the longer term.