Sometimes, you just want to tell a person everything. And sometimes, you find yourself regretting what you told that person when it comes back to you from a dozen other people. It’s not wise to communicate the little details of your life to just anyone; things get around that you don’t necessarily want shared with the world, and who knows how the truth will mutate through multiple exchanges.
Although it can be difficult to keep things to yourself, it can also be difficult to determine just what you should keep secret. However, there are some things that you should always keep to yourself, even when you think you can really trust the person you’re debating telling them to. Here are four things you should always keep secret, no matter what.
1. Your Goals
Your goals are more intimate than you think, especially when it comes to creative or intellectual property. You shouldn’t make your goals known until the path is clear for you to achieve them.
Keeping them secret will ensure that they’re truly yours, and you’ll keep other people from taking your ideas or your work. Your goals are yours; don’t let any outside influence change or disrupt that.
2. Family Struggle or Strife
Never come to another person with stories of your family’s most recent struggles. Not only is it disrespectful to your family, but you may not realize how much power that information can have in the hands of an outside party. Problems with your family need to be resolved within your family, not with anyone else. Sharing your family’s dirt will only devalue you as a person.
3. Your Philanthropic Endeavors
Helping others is a great way to spend your free time, but talking about helping others really isn’t.
As soon as you start telling the people in your life how charitable you are, it becomes about how you portray yourself to the public, not about the actual work that you do. Although you may not mean to come across as a showoff, that’s how it will look to those around you.
4. Physical Fitness or Activities
This is a big one. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of people in this world who value physical fitness or being healthy, which means talking about it can be tricky. There’s nothing wrong with being physically fit or spending time on your overall health, but if you talk about it too much, especially to people who aren’t necessarily physically fit, it can come across as conceited.
source and courtesy: dailyvibes.org