Here’s something counterintuitive:

Having MORE support can actually make you LESS productive.

It’s called the Ringelmann Effect, and it was discovered over a century ago.

French agricultural engineer Max Ringelmann asked people to pull a rope — alone and in groups. What he found shocked him: the more people on the rope, the less effort each person put in. In groups of 8, individuals pulled at only 49% of their solo effort.

This isn’t laziness. It’s a psychological phenomenon called social loafing — when we’re part of a group, we unconsciously assume someone else will pick up the slack.

Here’s where this hits your goals:

That accountability group chat? The one where everyone posts their goals on Monday? It might actually be making you LESS likely to follow through. Because your brain registers “sharing the goal” as “progress toward the goal.” You get the dopamine hit of announcing it without doing it.

THE TECHNIQUE: The Solo Commitment

Instead of sharing goals publicly, try this:

1. Keep your goal private for the first 7 days

2. Only tell people AFTER you’ve done it for a week

3. If you need accountability, use a system (app, journal, tracker) — not a group

This isn’t about being antisocial. It’s about protecting your effort from the Ringelmann Effect.

Your goals are YOUR rope. Pull it yourself first.

Kevin

Head of Behavioural Psychology

TodayIsTheDay