lingua house

TM

Innovation in Learning

ENGLISH IN VIDEO

Silent ambition
Lesson code: LQC6-HJPB-BGF2-E

UPPER INTERMEDIATE +

1 Warm-up
How important is it to have personal goals or ambitions?

2 Before you watch

Match the underlined expressions to their definitions below:
1. When you have a new personal goal, do you say it out loud or do you keep your mouth shut?
2. Having hot soup on a hot day to cool you down goes against conventional wisdom.
3. If you tell all your friends about your ambition, they will hold you to it.
4. We've only just started. We still have a long way to go to achieve our goal.
5. Although she is on a strict diet, she just couldn't resist the temptation to have another chocolate.
a. stay silent
b. expect you to keep your promise
c. not silently
d. have a lot of work left to do
e. try not do something that you want to do but that you know you should not do
f.

is the opposite of what people believe

3 Listening and Watching

You are going to watch Derek Sivers talk about whether announcing your goals to other people is a
good idea or not. Watch the talk and put T (True) or F (False) next to each statement below:
1. Keeping your goals to yourself makes them more likely to happen.
2. Psychologists first discussed the topic in 1936.
3. 263 people were involved in tests by psychologist Peter Gollwitzer.
4. The participants were given 45 minutes to work towards achieving their goal.
5. Those who kept silent about their goals felt they were close to achieving their goals.
6. Those who announced their goals worked the entire 45 minutes.

1/3

c
Linguahouse.com

PI

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

AB

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

LE

7. It is better to talk about your goals in a way that gives you no satisfaction.

P H OT

OC

lingua house

Silent ambition
A

TM

Innovation in Learning

ENGLISH IN VIDEO

4 Vocabulary
Now complete the extract from the talk with the words below:
acknowledge

announced

delay

state

tempted

tricked

1
When you tell someone your goal and they
it, psychologists have found that it's called a
2
into feeling that it's already done. And then, because
"social reality." The mind is kind of
you felt that satisfaction, you're less motivated to do the actual hard work necessary.

It goes like this: 163 people across four separate tests -- everyone wrote down their personal goal. Then
3
half of them
their commitment to this goal to the room, and half didn't.
So, if this is true, what can we do? Well, you could resist the temptation to announce your goal. You can
4
the gratification that the social acknowledgment brings, and you can understand that
your mind mistakes the talking for the doing. But if you do need to talk about something, you can
5
it in a way that gives you no satisfaction.
6

So audience, next time you're

to tell someone your goal, what will you say?

5 Describing achievement
Imagine a difficult goal. Study the phrases below and put them in order of accomplishment from 1 to 6.

I'm almost there.

I'm halfway there.

I'm just getting started.

I'm not making much headway.

I've got a long way to go.

I've made it!

Now complete the sentences below with the expressions above:

!

1. I can see the finish line.

2. I have to read the entire book by tomorrow, but I'm only on chapter two.
.
.

3. I've got 13 miles left to go to finish this marathon.

4.

! Bring out the champagne.

5. "How's your Japanese coming along?" "Well, I bought a phrasebook today, so

."

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

2/3

PI

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
c
Linguahouse.com

LE

AB

6. I set off on my round-the-world trip this morning.

P H OT

OC

lingua house

Silent ambition
A

Innovation in Learning

ENGLISH IN VIDEO

6 Talking point
Discuss any of the following questions:
1. What do you think of the speaker's advice?
2. Talk about a personal challenge or ambition you have set for yourself. How close are you to achieving
it? Talk about it in a way that gives you no personal satisfaction!

7 Flashcard review

3/3

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
c
Linguahouse.com

AB

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

LE

Don't forget what you learned in this lesson! Go to www.linguahouse.com, click `Learning English' and
enter Lesson code: LQC6-HJPB-BGF2-E.

PI

TM

P H OT

OC

lingua house

Silent ambition - Transcripts

A

Innovation in Learning

ENGLISH IN VIDEO

3- Listening and Watching

Everyone, please think of your biggest personal goal. For real -- you can take a second. You've got
to feel this to learn it. Take a few seconds and think of your personal biggest goal, okay? Imagine
deciding right now that you're going to do it. Imagine telling someone that you meet today what
you're going to do. Imagine their congratulations and their high image of you. Doesn't it feel good to
say it out loud? Don't you feel one step closer already, like it's already becoming part of your
identity?
Well, bad news: you should have kept your mouth shut, because that good feeling now will make
you less likely to do it. Repeated psychology tests have proven that telling someone your goal
makes it less likely to happen. Any time you have a goal, there are some steps that need to be done,
some work that needs to be done in order to achieve it. Ideally, you would not be satisfied until you
had actually done the work. But when you tell someone your goal and they acknowledge it,
psychologists have found that it's called a "social reality." The mind is kind of tricked into feeling
that it's already done. And then, because you felt that satisfaction, you're less motivated to do the
actual hard work necessary. (Laughter) So this goes against the conventional wisdom that we
should tell our friends our goals, right -- so they hold us to it.
So, let's look at the proof. 1926, Kurt Lewin, founder of social psychology, called this "substitution."
1933, Vera Mahler found, when it was acknowledged by others, it felt real in the mind. 1982, Peter
Gollwitzer wrote a whole book about this and in 2009, he did some new tests that were published.
It goes like this: 163 people across four separate tests -- everyone wrote down their personal goal.
Then half of them announced their commitment to this goal to the room, and half didn't. Then
everyone was given 45 minutes of work that would directly lead them towards their goal, but they
were told that they could stop at any time. Now, those who kept their mouths shut worked the entire
45 minutes, on average, and when asked afterwards, said that they felt that they had a long way to
go still to achieve their goal. But those who had announced it quit after only 33 minutes, on average,
and when asked afterwards, said that they felt much closer to achieving their goal.
So, if this is true, what can we do? Well, you could resist the temptation to announce your goal. You
can delay the gratification that the social acknowledgment brings, and you can understand that your
mind mistakes the talking for the doing. But if you do need to talk about something, you can state it
in a way that gives you no satisfaction, such as, "I really want to run this marathon, so I need to
train five times a week and kick my ass if I don't, okay?"
So audience, next time you're tempted to tell someone your goal, what will you say? (Silence)
Exactly, well done.

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
c
Linguahouse.com

AB

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

LE

(Applause)

PI

TM

P H OT

OC

lingua house

Silent ambition - Key

A

TM

Innovation in Learning

ENGLISH IN VIDEO

2- Before you watch

1. c, a

2. f

3. b

4. d

5. e

3- Listening and Watching

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

T
F - In 1926, Kurt Lewin, founder of social psychology, called it "substitution."
F - 163 people
T
F - They felt they had a long way to go.
F - They quit after 33 minutes on average.
T

4- Vocabulary

1. acknowledge 2. tricked

3. announced 4. delay

5. state

6. tempted

5- Describing achievement
Suggested answers:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

I'm just getting started.

I'm not making much headway.
I've got a long way to go.
I'm halfway there.
I'm almost there.
I've made it!

Complete the sentences:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

I'm almost there

I'm not making much headway / I've got a long way to go
I'm halfway there
I've made it
I'm just getting started
I've got a long way to go

7- Flashcard review

c
Linguahouse.com

PI

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

AB

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

LE

For a state-of-the-art blended learning system, encourage your students to register on our website and review the
material from this lesson in their spare time using our unique flashcard application, Expemo. The material from
the worksheet is broken down into specially-designed multimedia flashcards, which are displayed at optimally
scheduled intervals (spaced repetition). Students should try to review their flashcards on a regular basis in order
to remember all the material from your lessons. Visit www.linguahouse.com/expemo.php for more information.

P H OT

OC