I recently started taking “The Science of Well-Being” by Yale University on Coursera, a course that’s all about understanding what actually makes us happy, and how our minds sometimes trick us into chasing the wrong things.

Instead of waiting until I finish the whole thing, I’m turning this post into a living record of my progress. Every module, every exercise, every uncomfortable self-realisation, all of it goes here. I want this space to capture how the course shapes me over time, not just what it teaches.

Why I took this Course

I didn’t sign up for this course because something was wrong with my life… but more because I felt like I’d been running on autopilot for a while. You know that strange feeling where everything looks fine from the outside, but internally you’re not sure if you’re actually moving in the direction you want? That’s where I was.

So when I stumbled on this course, it felt like the perfect excuse to pause, recalibrate, and understand myself a little better, scientifically, not just emotionally.

The G.I. Joe Fallacy, Knowing Isn’t Half the Battle

The first lecture hit me with a surprisingly simple but powerful idea: knowing something isn’t enough to change your behavior. Yale calls this the G.I. Joe Fallacy... yes, named after the 80s cartoon. Remember those little public service announcements at the end of every episode? “Thank you, G.I. Joe. Now I know.” And G.I. Joe’s iconic line: “Knowing is half the battle.”

The fallacy lies in thinking that once we know something, we’re automatically better at it. But the course points out, and I can already relate, that just knowing doesn’t make habits stick or make us happier.

The professor illustrated this with optical illusions, like the Müller-Lyer illusion and Shepard’s Tables, which trick your eyes no matter how much you know about them. Even if you understand the science, your perception doesn’t magically fix itself. That was a fun and slightly humbling metaphor for the mind: knowing isn’t action, and awareness alone doesn’t equal improvement.

The takeaway? If I really want to be happier or change my habits, I can’t just read about it or understand the theory. I have to practice it, build habits, and stick with them — ideally with some accountability and social support, too.

This first lesson already makes me reflect: how many “happiness hacks” have I read about but never actually implemented? It’s going to be interesting (and probably uncomfortable) to see how much of this course forces me to actually do, not just know.