Mastery Notes
Short notes on what researchers actually found.
Each note works through a question about learning, leadership, performance, or mindset using the published research — the numbers, the caveats, and where the evidence stops. Sources are listed at the end of every one.
New releases
Write Your Plan for the Moment You Usually Quit
Plans made in a calm morning often fall apart in a tired evening. Deciding in advance what you will do…
Studied for Hours and Still Struggled on the Exam? Change
If you studied for hours and still struggled on an exam or a practical, look at how those hours were…
What Helps Students Get Through a Demanding Program
Students who use several ways of coping report more confidence that they can handle their program, and the program itself…
Keep a Distraction Log Before You Change Anything
People interrupt themselves about as often as something outside them interrupts them. A one-week log shows which kind of distraction…
Six Stoic Practices for Setbacks in a Healthcare Program
Two small studies have tested teaching Stoicism to healthcare students, and neither shows that it prevents burnout. What the research…
What a Mastery Goal Predicts, and What It Does Not
Mastery goals go with interest, persistence and well-being more than with grades. Why mastery-minded students can score lower, and one…
All notes
Write Your Plan for the Moment You Usually Quit
Studied for Hours and Still Struggled on the Exam? Change How You Study
What Helps Students Get Through a Demanding Program
Keep a Distraction Log Before You Change Anything
Six Stoic Practices for Setbacks in a Healthcare Program
What a Mastery Goal Predicts, and What It Does Not
There Is No Single Age at Which You Are at Your Best
The Half of Grit That Actually Predicts Achievement
How Experts See What Beginners Miss
Stop Rereading and Start Retrieving
Discipline Comes From Design
Real Toughness Isn’t Suppression
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