Overview

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Every pattern you repeat at work, in relationships, under stress — is driven by personality traits you carry, biases you have absorbed, and habits you have built over time. This course gives you the scientific framework to understand all three: who you are, why you behave the way you do, and what it takes to change your behaviour. Over seven modules, Dr Sanna Balsari-Palsule, a behavioural scientist, University of Cambridge PhD, and active researcher whose work spans personality change, workplace behaviour, and the science of more meaningful relationships, will guide you through why you behave the way you do, and what it actually takes to shift it. Using the Big Five personality framework, weekly self-observation challenges, and evidence-based behaviour change tools, you will build a personal picture of your own traits and leave with a plan to work with them. This is not a course about motivation or mindset. It is about the science of who you are and the practice of becoming who you want to be as a leader, colleague, partner, or friend.

Syllabus

What Will We Learn?

At the start of this course, you will set a personally meaningful learning goal that you will actively track and refine throughout the course. You will also understand what makes this course distinctive, its integration of live self-observation with behavioural science theory and will identify the habits of mind that will help you get the most out of this learning experience.

What Are Our Biases?

In module two, identify the cognitive biases and social conditioning patterns that have been quietly shaping your decisions. Recognise how your cultural environment has influenced your self-perception and behavioural patterns. Apply the evidence-based 'if-then' technique to rewrite your learning goals into actionable, adaptive strategies and begin using your Behaviour Log to collect real-time observations about your own patterns.

Can We Be More Conscientious?

In module three, explore why some people thrive in chaos while others need structure to do their best work. Why does feedback roll off one colleague and devastate another? The answer often lies in personality, not as a label but as a science. This module introduces you to the Big Five personality traits (OCEAN), the most robust framework in psychological research. You'll do a self-assessment to see how your traits play out at work and in relationships, and take on a week-long behavioural challenge to experience change firsthand.

Can We Direct Change?

In module four, recognise that personality is not fixed and understand the conditions under which directed, intentional change is possible. You've set goals before. Some stuck. Most didn't. The problem usually isn't willpower; it's that we try to change too much, too fast, without understanding how personality actually shifts over time. This module introduces the concept of balanced volitional change: how to work with your personality rather than against it. You'll also learn how to reframe stress and manage the anxiety that so often derails even the most well-intentioned growth plans.

How Do We Change?

We're sold the idea of dramatic transformation, the 30-day glow-up, the overnight mindset shift. But real personality change is quieter, slower, and far more sustainable than that. In module five, you will capture an honest picture of how people actually change, and what the science says about what works. Using evidence-based goal-setting techniques, you'll learn to balance ambition with realism building momentum without burning out.

Can We Adjust Our Extraversion?

In module six, understand how introversion and extraversion shapes communication, collaboration, and leadership. Analyse the strategies people use to adjust their extraversion levels at work. This module will help you understand how extraversion shapes the way we show up professionally, and how both introverts and extraverts can adapt without losing themselves. You'll take on a behavioural challenge to experiment with adjusting your own levels and discover what feels authentic versus what's just expected of you.

How Do We Keep Growing?

The hardest part of any learning experience isn't the learning, it's making it stick once real life kicks back in. This final module is designed to bridge the gap between insight and action. In your final assignment, you'll revisit the core behavioural science principles from across the course that matter most, reflect on the changes you have observed in yourself over the weeks, and build a personal plan for continuing to apply what you've learned in your work, your relationships, and your sense of self.