Module 5 · The forces behind behaviour
Motivation & mind
Why people act or don’t — motivation, confidence, temptation, procrastination and identity.
Free — no account needed to read
Why people act or don’t — motivation, confidence, temptation, procrastination and identity.
By the end of this module
You will understand what motivation can and cannot do, why intentions stall, how procrastination really works, and how habits shape who you become.
What motivation is
- Motivation comes in waves — Plan for low-motivation days instead of waiting for high ones. (5 min · Beginner)
- Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation — Doing it because you want to, versus doing it for something else — and how rewards interact. (6 min · Intermediate)
- Autonomy, competence and relatedness — Self-Determination Theory: the three needs that keep motivation alive. (7 min · Intermediate)
- Confidence you build by doing — Self-efficacy grows from small successes more than from encouragement. (6 min · Beginner)
- Action before motivation — Often you start, and then you feel like it — and how effort feels shapes whether you start. (5 min · Beginner)
What pulls against you
- The gap between intending and doing — Why wanting to and committing to are not enough on their own. (6 min · Intermediate)
- Temptation and the pull of now — Short-term rewards win because they’re close. How to bring long-term ones nearer. (6 min · Intermediate)
- Procrastination is about feelings — Putting things off is usually escaping a feeling, not laziness. (6 min · Beginner)
- Decision fatigue and willpower — what the research says — The “willpower runs out” idea, and why the evidence is mixed. (7 min · Intermediate)
- Boredom and novelty — Why new habits feel exciting, then flat — and how to handle the flat part. (5 min · Beginner)
Identity and values
- Habits as evidence about yourself — Each repetition is a small piece of evidence for the kind of person you are becoming. (6 min · Intermediate)
- Values and meaning — Connecting a habit to what matters to you — so it survives the dull days. (6 min · Beginner)
- Hold identity lightly — Why rigid labels backfire, and why you don’t need to become a new person to change a behaviour. (6 min · Intermediate)