Shut Up and Act

You have dreams. Big ones. You’re going to build that startup. Write that book. Launch that course. Create that open source project that changes everything.

But here’s the problem: you won’t. And it’s not because you’re not talented enough or smart enough or connected enough.

It’s because you won’t shut up about it.

The Neuroscience of Self-Sabotage

In 2009, psychologist Peter Gollwitzer published a research at New York University that should terrify anyone with ambitions.

His studies showed that when you announce your goals to others, you experience what’s called a “social reality.”

Your mind mistakes the talking for doing. The recognition and acknowledgment you get from sharing your intentions gives you a premature sense of completeness.

Translation? Your brain gets the reward without doing the work.

When you tell your friends you’re building a SaaS product, their excitement and encouragement trigger dopamine release. The same neurotransmitter that fires when you actually ship the product. Your brain can’t tell the difference between the announcement and the achievement.

So you feel satisfied. The motivation that should fuel your execution? It’s already been spent on the conversation.

Derek Sivers gave a TED talk about this: “Keep your goals to yourself.” He explains that the social acknowledgment you receive creates what psychologists call a “substitution.” You get a feeling of accomplishment without the accomplishment.

The Pattern You Keep Repeating

Think about your last five “big ideas.” The ones you were excited about. The ones you told people about at dinner, in Slack channels, on X, on your WhatsApp/Instagram stories.

How many did you actually execute?

If you’re honest, probably one. Maybe two if you’re disciplined. More likely, zero.

Here’s how it plays out every time:

Week 1: You have the idea. It’s brilliant. Revolutionary. You can see exactly how it will work. You tell your close friends. They love it. You feel validated.

Week 2: You tell more people. You refine the pitch based on their reactions. You think about branding. You buy the domain. You feel productive.

Week 3: You start thinking about the technical details. It’s harder than you thought. You tell people about the challenges. They sympathize. You feel understood.

Week 4: You encounter a real obstacle. You’re not sure how to solve it. The initial excitement is gone. You think, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

Week 5: You’ve moved on to a new idea. The cycle repeats.

Sound familiar?

Naval Ravikant puts it simply:

Specific knowledge is found by pursuing your genuine curiosity and passion rather than whatever is hot right now.

But you can’t pursue anything if you’re too busy talking about pursuing it.

The Difference Between Dreamers and Builders

Dreamers talk. Builders build.

DHH and Jason Friend didn’t announce Basecamp and then build it. He built it, then announced it. The product came first. The talking came after.

Do Stuff. Talk about them. Do bigger stuff.

Robert Greene spent years researching and writing “The 48 Laws of Power” before anyone knew it existed. He didn’t post about his progress. He didn’t share his outline. He disappeared into the work.

Alex Hormozi built three companies to $100M+ in revenue. When asked about his secret, he said: “I just do more.”

Not “I just talk more.”

Not “I just plan more.”

I. Just. Do. More.

The pattern is clear. The people who accomplish things spend their energy on execution, not explanation.

Social media has made this worse. Way worse.

You can now announce your goals to hundreds or thousands of people instantly. The validation is immediate. The dopamine hit is massive. And the accountability? Non-existent.

You post on X: “Starting my fitness journey today! Going to lose 20 pounds by summer 💪”

You get 47 likes and 12 encouraging replies. Your brain lights up. You feel like you’ve already accomplished something.

Except you haven’t even been to the gym yet.

Three weeks later, nobody remembers that post. Nobody is checking on your progress. Nobody cares. The social reality has dissolved, and so has your motivation.

If you want to actually make change happen, you need to starve your ego and feed your work.

What To Do Instead

Here’s the balanced approach that actually works:

1. Embrace Strategic Silence

Tell no one. Seriously. Keep your mouth shut until you have something tangible to show.

Not because you’re being secretive or mysterious. Because you’re protecting your motivation. Because you’re keeping the dopamine reserved for actual progress.

Build in private. Ship in public.

2. Replace Talking With Doing

Every time you feel the urge to tell someone about your plan, do one small task instead.

Want to post on X or Instagram about your new project? Write one function instead. Want to tell your friend about your book idea? Write 500 words instead. Want to post a LinkedIn update about your learning journey? Complete one tutorial instead.

Channel that communication energy into creation energy.

3. Find an Accountability Partner (Not an Audience)

There’s a difference between announcing your goals to the world and having one trusted person who holds you accountable.

Choose someone who will ask the hard questions. Someone who cares about your results, not your intentions. Someone who will call you out when you’re making excuses.

Tell them your goal. Then report progress, not plans.

4. Document, Don’t Announce

If you must share something, share completed work.

Not “I’m going to build a todo app.” Instead: “I built a todo app. Here’s the link.”

Not “Starting my YouTube channel soon!” Instead: “Published my first video. What do you think?”

Not “Learning Vue this year.” Instead: “Rebuilt my portfolio with Vue. Check it out.”

See the difference? One is future-focused (and useless). The other is evidence-focused (and valuable).

Stop counting likes, comments, and reactions to your announcements. Start counting:

Lines of code written
Pages published
Workouts completed
Sales closed
Features shipped

If it’s not measurable and concrete, it doesn’t count.

The 30-Day Challenge

Here’s my challenge: for the next 30 days, tell no one about your goals. Zero announcements. Zero updates. Zero progress posts.

Just work. In silence.

See what happens when you redirect all that communication energy into execution energy. See what you can build when you’re not performing your productivity for an audience.

I promise you’ll accomplish more in those 30 days than in the previous 90 days of talking about what you’re going to do.

Action Steps

Stop reading. Start doing.

Right now: Write down your current goal. Don’t post it anywhere. Keep it private.
Today: Identify the smallest possible first step. Not planning. Not research. Actual execution.
This week: Complete that first step and two more. Tell no one.
This month: Build momentum through consistent daily action. No announcements allowed.
After results: Once you have something real to show, share it. Let your work speak.

Remember: your dreams die in the announcement. They live in the execution.

So shut up and act.