Not magic. Not motivational hype. Not opinion.
Rigorously conducted research: Large data sets, long time frames, randomized controlled trials, peer review, and replication.

Sources and Influences 

(P&R = Professor and Researcher) 

Daniel Kahneman 

  • PhD Psychology University of California Berkley 

  • P&R Hebrew University

  • P&R Cambridge

  • P&R Harvard 

  • Father of Behavioral Economics (with Tversky) 

  • 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for Behavioral Economics 

  • 2015 named by The Economists the 7th most influential economist in the world 

Amos Tversky 

  • PhD Cognitive Psychology University of Michigan 

  • P&R Hebrew University

  • P&R Stanford 

  • Father of Behavioral Economics (with Kahneman) 

Richard Thaler 

  • PhD Economics University of Rochester 

  • P&R Cornell

  • P&R University of Chicago Booth School of Business 

  • 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics for Behavioral Economics 

Abraham Maslow 

  • MA Behavioral Psychology University of Wisconsin 

  • P&R Columbia 

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 

  • PhD Psychology University of Chicago 

  • P&R University of Chicago

  • P&R Claremont Graduate University 

  • Flow State 

Anders Ericsson 

  • PhD University of Stockholm 

  • P&R Florida State University 

  • Deliberate Practice 

  • Theory of Skilled Memory 

  • Acquisition of expert performance 

Martin Seligman 

  • PhD Psychology University of Pennsylvania 

  • P&R University of Pennsylvania 

  • Father of Positive Psychology 

Christopher Peterson

  • PhD University of Colorado

  • P&R University of Michigan

  • P&R Virginia Tech

  • P&R University of Pennsylvania

  • Director of VIA Institute of Character

  • Co-author of Character Strengths and Virtues with Martin Seligman

Angela Duckworth 

  • BA Neurobiology Harvard 

  • MSc Neuroscience Oxford  

  • PhD Psychology University of Pennsylvania  

  • Former McKinsey consultant 

  • 2013 MacArthur Genius Award 

  • P&R University of Pennsylvania 

  • Founder of Character Lab 

  • Co-director of Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative 

  • Co-director of Wharton People Analytics 

  • Co-host of No Stupid Questions podcast 

Katy Milkman 

  • BA Operations Research and Financial Engineering Princeton

  • PhD joint program in Computer Science and Business Harvard 

  • P&R University of Pennsylvania Medical School 

  • P&R Wharton 

  • Host of Choiceology podcast 

Aaron Beck 

  • P&R University of Pennsylvania  

  • Father of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) 

George Kelly

  • BA Physics and Mathematics Park College

  • MA Sociology University of Kansas

  • PhD Psychology State University of Iowa 

  • P&R Ohio State 

  • Personal Construct Theory 

Albert Bandura

  • MA, PhD University of Iowa

  • P&R Stanford

  • Social Cognitive Theory

  • Self-Efficacy Theory

Amy Cuddy 

  • PhD Psychology Princeton 

  • P&R: Rutgers 

  • P&R Kellogg School of Management

  • P&R Harvard Business School 

Brian Little 

  • PhD Psychology University of California at Berkley 

  • P&R Harvard

  • P&R Oxford

  • P&R Cambridge 

Daniel Pink 

  • BA Northwestern (Phi Beta Kappa) 

  • JD Yale Law School 

  • Speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore 

  • prolific and prominent business author 

Michael Lewis 

  • BA Princeton 

  • MA London School of Economics 

  • Trader at Salomon Brothers 

  • prolific and prominent behavioral science author 

  • Host of Against the Rules podcast 

Stephen Dubner 

  • MFA Writing Columbia 

  • prolific and prominent behavioral science author 

  • Host of Freakonomics podcast 

  • Co-host of No Stupid Questions podcast 

Steven Pinker 

  • PhD Philosophy Harvard 

  • P&R MIT 

  • P&R Harvard

  • P&R Stanford 

  • Computational theory of the mind  

Carol Dweck 

  • PhD Psychology Yale 

  • P&R Columbia

  • P&R Harvard

  • P&R Stanford 

  • Growth Mindset 

Andrew Huberman 

  • PhD Neuroscience University of California Davis 

  • P&R Stanford Medical School 

David Yeager 

  • PhD Developmental Psychology Stanford 

  • P&R University of Texas Austin 

  • The “wise feedback paper” 

Peter Attia 

  • BS Mechanical Engineering Queen’s University

  • MD Stanford School of Medicine

  • Surgery Resident Johns Hopkins

  • Surgical Fellow National Institutes of Health

  • Consultant McKinsey and Company

  • Private practice focused on applied science of longevity and optimal performance 

Barbara Oakley 

  • BA Electrical Engineering 

  • MA Computer Engineering 

  • PhD Systems Engineering 

  • P&R Oakland University

  • P&R McMaster University 

  • Creator of Learn How to Learn – the most popular MOOC, with 2,286,800 students 

Amy Edmondson  

  • PhD Organizational Behavior Harvard 

  • P&R Harvard Business School 

  • Identified Psychological Safety as key to productive workplace 

Chris Voss

  • FBI Chief International Hostage Negotiator

  • FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit 24 years 

  • Lecturer Harvard Law School 

  • Lecturer Georgetown University School of Business 

  • Lecturer University of Southern California School of Business 

Julia Dhar 

  • MA Behavioral Economics Harvard 

  • Managing Director and Partner Boston Consulting Group 

  • Co-founder BCG Behavioral Economics Initiative 

  • 3x Champion World Schools Debate  

Liane Young  

  • PhD Harvard 

  • Postdoc MIT Brain Science lab 

  • P&R Boston College 

Alison Wood Brooks 

  • BA Princeton 

  • PhD Wharton 

  • P&R Harvard Business School 

  • 2021 Best 40-Under-40 professor 

  • Creator of most popular elective at HBS  

Deborah Tannen 

  • MA Linguistics University of California Berkley 

  • PhD Linguistics University of California Berkley 

  • P&R Princeton 

Amishi Jha 

  • PhD Psychology University of California Davis 

  • postdoc Neuroimaging Duke 

  • P&R University of Pennsylvania Center for Cognitive Neuroscience 

  • P&R University of Miami 

Sian Beilock

  • PhD Psychology Michigan State 

  • P&R University of Chicago 

  • Executive Vice Provost University of Chicago 

  • President Barnard College at Columbia University 

Todd Kashdan 

  • MA Psychology University of Buffalo 

  • PhD Psychology University of Buffalo

  • P&R George Mason University 

Daniel Gilbert 

  • PhD Psychology Princeton 

  • P&R University of Texas Austin 

  • P&R Harvard 

  • Affective Forecasting and Temporal Distancing 

John A. List 

  • PhD Economics University of Wyoming 

  • Senior Economist, President’s Council of Economic Advisers 

  • Ranked 9th most influential economist in the world by RePEc 

  • Pioneered field experimentation in economics 

  • Chief Economist at Uber 

  • Chief Economist at Lyft 

  • P&R University of Chicago 

  • author of The Voltage Effect 

Scott Barry Kaufman 

  • MA Philosophy Cambridge 

  • PhD Cognitive Psychology Yale 

  • P&R Columbia

  • P&R New York University

  • P&R University of Pennsylvania 

  • Host of The Psychology Podcast 

Ethan Kross 

  • PhD Columbia 

  • P&R University of Michigan 

Milton Friedman 

  • MA Economics University of Chicago 

  • PhD Economics Columbia 

  • 1976 Noble Prize in Economics 

Roy Baumeister 

  • MA Psychology Duke 

  • PhD Psychology Princeton 

  • P&R Case Western

  • P&R Florida State

  • P&R University of Queensland 

Dan Ariely 

  • PhD Cognitive Psychology Tel Aviv University 

  • PhD Business Administration University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

  • P&R MIT

  • P&R Duke 

Ayelet Fishbach 

  • BA, MA, PhD Psychology (magna cum laude) Tel Aviv University 

  • P&R University of Chicago Booth School 

Paul J. Zak

  • PhD Economics University of Pennsylvania 

  • P&R Claremont Graduate University 

Kelly McGonigal 

  • MA Mass Communications Boston University

  • PhD Psychology Stanford 

  • Lecturer & Researcher Stanford 

Judson Brewer 

  • BA Chemistry Princeton University 

  • MD, PhD Washington University School of Medicine 

  • Residency in Psychiatry Yale School of Medicine 

  • P&R Brown University School of Medicine 

  • Director Brown University Mindfulness Center 

Todd Kashdan 

  • BA Cornell University 

  • MA, PhD University of Buffalo 

  • P&R George Mason University 

Robert Cialdini

  • PhD University of North Carolina

  • Postdoc Columbia University

  • P&R University of Arizona

  • Visiting Scholar Stanford Graduate School of Business

  • Member National Academy of Sciences

  • The psychology of persuasion

Adam Smith 

  • Father of Economics 

William James 

  • Father of American psychology 

Carl Jung 

  • Founder of Analytical Psychology 

Alfred Adler 

  • Austrian Psychiatrist – humans are primarily and ultimately motivated by the drive for power 

Sigmund Freud 

  • Austrian Psychiatrist – humans are primarily and ultimately motivated by the drive for pleasure 

Viktor Frankl 

  • Austrian Psychiatrist – humans are primarily and ultimately motivated by the drive for purpose