So is it better to make a private commitment? What about posting an encrypted version of your resolutions, pre-committing to releasing the key in January 2011, so that you get punished by people if you fail, but you don’t prematurely reap the fuzzies of expected good deed for the day.
On the other hand, based on Wiseman’s survey, public commitments help more often than hurt with regard to New Year’s resolutions. Possible reasons for the discrepant results include the hard-and-fast nature (Near-mode) of most New Year’s resolutions, compared to the fuzzy properties (Far-mode) of many identity-related goals.
A public reminder: making a public commitment might be counterproductive to achievement, possibly because you start feeling too secure in the resolution and prematurely reap the fuzzies of expected good deed for the day.
So is it better to make a private commitment? What about posting an encrypted version of your resolutions, pre-committing to releasing the key in January 2011, so that you get punished by people if you fail, but you don’t prematurely reap the fuzzies of expected good deed for the day.
That is probably ideal, and you also need a way to guarantee that people gain access to the decryption key next year.
Give all the keys to a “minder” who promises not to use them in the meantime.
On the other hand, based on Wiseman’s survey, public commitments help more often than hurt with regard to New Year’s resolutions. Possible reasons for the discrepant results include the hard-and-fast nature (Near-mode) of most New Year’s resolutions, compared to the fuzzy properties (Far-mode) of many identity-related goals.