The Science of Willpower, Habits, and Behavior Change

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What You’ll Do
Project: Create Your Behavior Change Blueprint.
What You’ll Learn

This class is all about creating positive behavior change in ourselves.

Why is it so hard to change our behavior?

We struggle to stop doing things we know we shouldn't and when we finally get motivated to do better, it doesn't stick - we just slide back to our old ways. And when we are able to successfully change part of our behavior, we often not sure exactly how we did and thus have trouble replicating it.

What You'll Get

  • 3 hours of compelling, fast-pace live lectures (recorded video and PPT will be made available)
  • Key findings from the past 30 years of academic research on willpower and behavior change
  • Proven strategies for developing new habits or breaking bad ones
  • Access to dozens of full-text studies to review on your own
  • Common mistakes to avoid when changing behavior
  • Suprising strategies for extending our willpower in key moments
  • In-depth Q&A on your burning questions
  • Hands-on assignments that reinforce and clarify class material

The ultimate product of this class will be a a personal behavior change blueprint that you can use to change any behavior in your everyday life.

A growing body of research is revealing how we can most effectively change our behavior and build new habits. Whether it's eating better, working out consistently, sleeping earlier or something else - studies show that we really can change our behavior.

We'll start by looking at what we know about self-regulation (i.e. willpower) and how it works so we can understand why "trying harder" rarely leads to lasting change. Then we'll examine the new research on habit formation and how habits can effectively bypass willpower. We'll also look at ways to extend our self-control in times when we need it.

This class is not for the faint hearted. There will a lot of work between lectures and we will be going through a lot of material.

The coursework is based on numerous studies published in peer-reviewed journals by researchers leading institutions like Stanford and Darthmouth (you'll get summaries + access to full text). It's also informed by my personal experience in creating behavior change as an NCAA athlete, blogger and entrepreneur.

Changing our behavior is one of the most important and difficult things we can do. This class will arm you with the tools to make it happen

Beginner Level
About Your Teacher
Jason Shen · Co-Founder at Ridejoy

Jason Shen is an entrepreneur, blogger and runner. His blog, the Art of Ass-Kicking, has been featured in Lifehacker, the San Francisco Chronicle and Vanity Fair. Since 2010, it's helped  thousands of readers overcome challenges and succeed in their personal and professional lives.

In 2009, Jason led instruction for 2 unit course at Stanford University on "The Psychology of Personal Change" that helped three dozen students develop and implement a personal change plan. In his coursework, he draws from a wealth of personal experience in developing (and sometimes failing) to develop habit as well as extensive study of the academic literature.

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    At a Glance

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    3 Video Lessons

    Lifetime access

    Project Guide

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