Lauren ran survey after survey of Americans with unmet goals. Some were striving to save more, others to control their tempers, get fit, or find new jobs. Time and again, she found two things. First, when asked directly, most people predicted that receiving advice would be more motivating than giving it, which explains why we’re all the targets of so much unsolicited advice. But when she examined the accuracy of this belief, using controlled experiments, she found that it was wrong. Just as she’d come to suspect, prompting goal seekers to offer advice led them to feel more motivated than when
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