In life, sometimes we can feel obligated to tell people the most personal secrets of our lives. But the truth is, not only do you have every right to keep some things to yourself, it’s also in your best interest that you do.

What follows is a quick list of five things that you ought to keep to yourself, no matter what.

#1 – Your Deepest Ambitions

Our knowledge about the human brain tells us that keeping quiet about our goals is actually a great way of ensuring we achieve them. When you tell a friend a major ambition you have, you’re tricking your brain into thinking it’s actually doing something to work towards it, when in reality, you’ve only just blabbed for a few minutes.

Further, I’m sure anyone with ambition knows just how good humans are at deflating each others’ dreams. Throughout my childhood I had many ambitions and I can recall many an occasion where people seemed to get some sort of thrill out of telling me how impossible said ambitions are.

As a result, I quickly learned that unless someone can realistically help you along with your goal, they really don’t need to know.

#2 – The Good Deeds You’ve Done

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What use is doing something good if the only reason you’re doing it is for recognition? People you help will actually appreciate it so much more if you do it out of the goodness of your heart and then keep quiet about it.

If that sounds difficult to you, maybe you should reevaluate why exactly you do the nice things you do.

#3 – The Secrets Of Your Lifestyle

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Yes, you may have gone on a diet or finally improved that sex life of yours. But does everyone on your Facebook feed need to know? If your answer is yes, why did you make those lifestyle changes? Was it to impress people or was it for you?

#4 – Your Enlightenment

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I wrote that heading with a bit of a chuckle because I can name quite a few people off the top of my head who seem to enjoy letting the world know how brilliant and skeptical they are.

Such people speak condescendingly about their knowledge in areas like health, politics and science. It’s best to get off your high horse and only bring up your knowledge when it’s relevant and can actually benefit those you’re preaching to.

#5 – Family Conflicts

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Every family has conflicts. Every. Single. One. There is no need to bring outsiders into these conflicts. It won’t make you stronger as a family. What will make you stronger is working through those challenges on your own, in the privacy of your own home.

[h/t: www.brightside.me]