Motivation
Should You Announce Your Goals? It Depends Who You Tell
A 2009 study linked announced identity goals to less effort. A 2020 study found telling a higher-status person helped. Here's what each one measured.
Goals
Habits
The one-sentence plan behind a 38% vs. 91% exercise gap
A one-sentence if-then plan beat motivation alone in a small exercise study. What the wider research shows, why it works, and where it falls short.
Motivation
Paying kids for scores didn't raise them. Paying them to read did.
Four US cities paid kids for test scores, grades, behavior or books read. Only two saw reading gains. What that suggests about writing your own goals.
Habits
Why Thursday Is a Better Day to Start Than You Think
Gym visits and "diet" searches rise at the start of a new week and other calendar landmarks. Here's how that lift fades, and how to use it anyway.
Motivation
The car wash card trick: why the middle of a goal feels endless
Two loyalty-card studies suggest motivation often dips mid-goal. Here's why the middle drags, and how to re-frame progress so it moves again.