In preparation for the new year (and the resolutions that come with it), today’s episode is all about goal setting and behavior change. Eric and Greg have a long, evidence-based conversation about the research on setting effective goals and successfully changing health behaviors. The discussion yields several evidence-based tips for setting better goals and maximally supporting your ability to achieve them.

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TIME STAMPS

Intro/Announcements (0:00)

Road to the Stage / Road to Athens (2:29)

Feats of Strength (4:12)

Research Review: Goal setting and behavior change (9:54)

Fake urgency (12:06)

The time to act is now: pseudo-systematic review

Success rates of New Year’s Resolutions (14:36)

Temporal landmarks (22:19)

SMART goals (27:31)

SMART criteria

Creating a goal hierarchy (30:19)

How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective

Superordinate goals (34:16)

How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective

Equifinality and Multifinality (41:12)

Mental contrasting (44:12)

Approach versus avoidance (52:37)

Goal Setting and Action Planning for Health Behavior Change

Flexible versus rigid restraint (56:16)

Towards a Sustainable Nutrition Paradigm in Physique Sport: A Narrative Review

Process versus outcome (1:01:28)

The Way is the Goal: The Role of Goal Focus for Successful Goal Pursuit and Subjective Well-Being

Mastery versus performance (1:06:05)

Goal Setting and Action Planning for Health Behavior Change

Goal difficulty; “slack with a cost” (1:13:44)

Setting specific goals (1:23:12)

Implementation intentions (1:23:47)

Stimulus control; modifying your environment (1:30:24)

Changing circumstances, disrupting habits

Social support and feedback (1:33:08)

How MacroFactor supports evidence-based goal striving and behavior change (1:45:06)

To Play Us Out: Protein Bread, Winter Break (1:54:54)

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4 Dec 2025 Craig Ramsey of ACI Worldwide on Stablecoins, Instant Payments, Cloud computing, and Formula 1