In her insightful new book Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, Ayelet Fishbach, Ph.D., the Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, takes on the questions that plague us most: What happens when the person you most want to influence is yourself? How do you know where to start? How do you carry on in the face of roadblocks and distractions? How do you decide which tasks and ambitions to prioritize?
Presenting a new theoretical framework for self-motivated action, Fishbach explains how to identify the right goals, attack the “middle problem,” battle temptations, utilize the help of others around you, and so much more. With fascinating research from the field of motivation science and compelling stories of people who unlocked the secrets of self-motivation, she reveals surprising new insights such as: 1) why having uncertain incentives increases motivation while too many incentives decreases motivation; 2) how the “illusion” of progress towards a goal increases motivation; 3) how to know if and when a glass half full or half empty perspective will motivate you; 4) how to keep yourself motivated during the middle of your journey by shortening the distance or identifying arbitrary temporal landmarks; and 5) how to stay on track when faced with negative feedback, including asking about progress, adopting a learning mindset, distancing, or giving advice to a fellow struggler.
Fishbach is the past president of the Society for the Study of Motivation and has been published in many psychology and business journals. Her research is regularly featured in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Chicago Tribune, and NPR. She has received several international awards, including the Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award, and in 2006, she received the Provost’s Teaching Award from the University of Chicago.
Fishbach will be in conversation with Wendy Wood, Ph.D., Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California. Prof. Wood is a behavioral scientist and author of the 2019 book Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes that Stick.