College has always been a challenging time for young adults, but today’s students are facing unprecedented levels of distraction, pressure, and overwhelm. This week, we explore a potential solution by unpacking why focus and follow-through are harder than ever in an increasingly digital world, and why giving in to distraction isn’t a personal failure, but a behavioral design problem. Listen in for practical insights on how students can build better habits, stay motivated, and thrive academically and personally during one of life’s biggest transitions.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - Then vs. Now: College Edition

1:45 - Distraction and Overwhelm in Student Life

4:50 - The Intention-Action Gap

7:40 - How to Build Structure and Accountability

9:15 - Tools for Student Success

11:00 - Don’t Just Survive - Thrive

What if “good enough” was actually the best possible outcome? As we wrap up our Decisions Series, we explore “satisficing decisions”—low-stakes choices that feel important but don’t really change the course of our lives. Things like picking a vacation spot or trying a new hairstyle may feel daunting, but in reality, they have minimal long-term impact. We dive into why these decisions feel more serious than they are and share practical strategies to help you make a choice with confidence, preserve your mental energy, and focus on the decisions that truly matter.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - Satisficing Decisions: Big questions, little impact

1:14 - Characteristics of satisficing decisions

4:13 - The psychology behind satisficing

5:11 - Strategies to overcome satisficing

6:43 - Conclusion and resources

Links

FREE Download: Decisions Quadrant Tool

Decision Shift Guide and Workbook

Most goals fail—not from lack of ambition, but from being set incorrectly. Achieving your goals the right way requires a mix of values, feedback, commitment, and a little behavioral science. In this episode, get introduced to practical strategies like the goal gradient effect and illusory goal progress, and learn how to make your goals concrete, achievable, and uniquely yours. Plus, get a sneak peek at our GoalShift course, a short, high-impact series of training videos designed to help anyone apply these insights and finally reach the goals they set.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - Goal setting and its challenges

1:19 - Behavioral science and goal setting

3:29 - The best way to achieve your goals

4:29 - GoalShift: Your new secret weapon

We make tens of thousands of decisions every day, so today, we’re breaking down the power of routine decisions. From what we eat to how we start our mornings, these decisions might feel insignificant on their own, but over time they shape our habits, health, and happiness. We explore how our brains automate these choices to save energy, the cognitive shortcuts that guide them, and the subtle biases that sneak in along the way. By bringing a little more awareness to the decisions that matter most, we can turn our daily routines into quiet engines of long-term change.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - The decisions we make every day

1:36 - The brain’s energy conservation

3:19 - The downside of mental shortcuts

4:22 - Impact of routine decisions

5:22 - Conclusion and resources

Links

FREE Download: Decisions Quadrant Tool

Decision Shift Guide and Workbook

This week, we’re turning our attention to critical decisions—the big, high-stakes choices that can shape our lives and careers. Unlike the quick, reactive calls we explored last time, these decisions demand time, reflection, and deliberate thought. We discuss how to slow down, broaden your options, and check for hidden biases, all while keeping your choices aligned with your personal values. Along the way, we share practical techniques and structured tools—like the Decision Quadrant and Decision Shift module—to help you navigate these moments with clarity and confidence.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - The mental burden of critical decisions

1:30 - The danger of motivated reasoning

2:33 - Strategies for better decision-making

4:24 - Closing thoughts and resources

Links

FREE Download: Decisions Quadrant Tool

Decision Shift Guide and Workbook

This week, we’re diving even deeper into decision-making to tackle one of the toughest types of choices we face—tricky decisions. These are high-impact calls we have to make fast, often under pressure or stress, when our brains default to quick, reactive thinking. We break down why our instincts can sometimes lead us astray and share two practical tools to help keep emotion from hijacking reason in the heat of the moment. Learn how taking a simple breathing pause or using when-then thinking can keep your future self out of trouble and in the clear.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - Introduction: Why tricky decisions are problematic

1:56 - Taking a breathing pause

3:08 - “When-then” systems

4:36 - Hot state vs. cold state decision making

5:09 - Closing thoughts - just breathe

Links

FREE Download: Decisions Quadrant Tool

Decision Shift Guide and Workbook

How do you make the “right” decision in any given situation? This week, we break down the “Decision Quadrant,” a simple but powerful tool that helps us identify whether a choice is tricky, critical, routine, or satisficing - and then tailor our strategy accordingly. From learning to slow down impulsive reactions to avoiding decision fatigue over toothpaste, we’re bringing you strategies on how to allocate your mental energy to where it truly matters. Because better decisions aren’t just made; they’re built when we carry the right mindset into the right moment.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - Introduction: Not all decisions are equal

1:38 - Tricky Decisions: How to handle pressure wisely

5:11 - Critical Decisions: How to slow down

6:52 - Routine Decisions: Small choices = big habits

8:28 - Satisficing Decisions: Don’t sweat the small stuff

10:13 - The Big Picture: Matching strategy to situation

13:43 - Building better decisions through better mindsets

Links

FREE Download: Decisions Quadrant Tool

Decision Shift Guide and Workbook

Continuing on our decisions series, this week we’re breaking down Daniel Kahneman’s influential model of System 1 and System 2 thinking: the fast, intuitive decisions we make on autopilot versus the slow, deliberate ones that require effort. We talk about how stress, bias, and context shift us between these modes, when each type of thinking serves us best, and how simple strategies like pausing, labeling biases, and using decision tools can lead to smarter choices.

Chapter Markers:

0:00 - Introducing System 1 and System 2

2:05 - Stress, fatigue, and cognitive shortcuts

5:07 - Knowing when to slow down

6:01 - Final thoughts: steering your decisions with awareness

Links

Decision Shift Guide and Workbook