Saying your big goal out loud makes it real and makes you accountable. That’s the scary part and the useful part.

A goal kept private can be quietly downgraded at any point with nobody noticing, which is exactly what makes it comfortable. Saying it out loud removes that exit, and the discomfort you feel at the thought of saying it is a fair measure of how much the exit was being used. Accountability is not motivation; it is the removal of a hiding place.

Tell one person who will remember and who will ask. Give them a date to ask about. Choose someone who will be kind about a delay and honest about a drift.