Success (Coursera)

Success (Coursera)

Do you want to be more successful? This course was designed to help you define what success means to you, and to develop a plan for achieving it. Wharton Professor G. Richard Shell, an award-winning author and the creator of the popular Wharton School course on the meaning of success, created this course to help you answer the questions that arise when you consider how best to use your life. Drawing on his decades of research and mentoring, Shell offers personalized assessments to help you probe your past, imagine your future, and measure your strengths.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

He then combines these with the latest scientific insights on everything from self-confidence and happiness to relationships and careers. Throughout, he shares inspiring examples of people who found what they were meant to do by embracing their own true measure of success. Get ready for the journey of a lifetime—one that will help you reevaluate your future and envision success on your own terms. Students and executives say that Richard Shell’s courses and executive training programs have changed their lives. Let this course change yours.
Course 1 of 4 in the Achieving Personal and Professional Success Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Launching Your Personal Search for Success
This module is designed to help you define success for yourself through exploring the hidden beliefs you hold about success. You'll learn the three truths of success, and the role of culture and family in defining success. You'll also participate in the "Six Lives" exercise, which will guide you to deeper questions of your beliefs about success, as well as how those beliefs compare to others. By the end of this module you'll be able to assess yourself, your values, and your images of what success means. As a result, you can begin to adapt the tools that will work for you to achieve whatever your definition of success is.

WEEK 2
How to Think About Success on Your Own Terms
In this module, you'll learn how to think about success on your own terms. You'll explore ways of looking inside yourself, and into your past, to find the values and capabilities that you have determined for your personal success. You'll identify your "four diamonds" - the capabilities you have in your own heart and soul to develop the inner and outer success that will be most satisfying to you. You'll learn the two habits that successful people share, as well as the four different ways you can renew your success values. By the end of this module you'll have a deep understanding of what success is for you on your terms, and how to sustain and renew your beliefs in the face of challenges.

WEEK 3
Diving Deeper: What Research Tells Us About Achievement and Happiness
This module was created to give you an overview of the science of success so that you can use that knowledge to begin exploring the relationship between success and happiness. You'll learn the four traps of achievement, as well as the four reasons to worry about achievement-based success. Finally, you'll examine the question of whether or not success equals happiness. By the end of this module you'll be able to differentiate between success that is based on achievements, which can be unsatisfying, and success based on other metrics, that can bring deep satisfaction to your life.

WEEK 4
Putting it Together: Charting Your Path to the Future
In this module, you'll begin putting together everything you have learned about yourself and about success so that you can chart your own path to the future. You'll learn how to use the achievement-happiness matrix to assess your current state, how to determine your current motivations, how to discover what work is meaningful to you (and whether or not you are employed doing it), and how happiness and success are measured differently. You'll conclude this module, and the course, by creating a personal theory of success which you will share with your classmates in peer review. There, you'll have the opportunity to see other theories of success, which may spark some additional exploration of your own. By the end of this module you'll have articulated a personalized theory and vision of success that you can use to create more happiness for you yourself.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

De-Mystifying Mindfulness (Coursera) Coursera
Leiden University

De-Mystifying Mindfulness (Coursera)

Interest in meditation, mindfulness, and contemplation has grown exponentially in recent years. Rather than being seen as mystical practices from ancient Buddhism or esoteric philosophy, they are increasingly seen as technologies rooted in evidence from psychology and neuroscience. Mindfulness has become the basis for numerous therapeutic interventions, both as a treatment in healthcare and as a means of enhancing well-being and happiness. For millions around the world, mindfulness has become a life-style choice, enhancing and enriching everyday experience. Mindfulness is big business.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
How to Jumpstart Your Hidden Creative Genius (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

How to Jumpstart Your Hidden Creative Genius (Coursera)

Despite what you may think, there is evidence that everyone has the capacity to think creatively. This course will teach you to be much less predictable in your thinking and have the confidence and ability to generate unique, workable ideas to solve complex problems. Society impels us to conform to its written and unwritten rules for thinking and behaving in a certain way, which makes too many of the ideas and solutions we generate fairly predictable and ineffective.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Cómo hablar bien en público (Coursera) Coursera
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Cómo hablar bien en público (Coursera)

Cada día es más importante hablar bien en público. La mejor oratoria es la que permite al orador conseguir los objetivos que se había planteado. Contrariamente a la creencia común, la necesidad de una buena oratoria no es exclusiva de ciertos grupos profesionales, sino que todas las personas deberían superar el miedo escénico y hablar bien en público.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Science of Training Young Athletes (Coursera) Coursera
University of Florida

The Science of Training Young Athletes (Coursera)

Seventy percent of kids drop out of sports before their high school graduation. Only 15% leave because they feel they are not good enough. Almost 70% leave because they were not having fun, or due to problems with the coach. Injuries cause 30% to give up sports. This course is packed full of practical sports science information that provide youth coaches and parents with the practical pediatric sports science insights to successfully retain young athletes and develop their sport potential while avoiding injury and overtraining.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
#talkmentalillness (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

#talkmentalillness (Coursera)

I am a professor and mental health researcher and educator, and I’ve been working in the field for over 15 years. Like so many of my colleagues, however, I was unprepared for the wave of mental health challenges that would face our society in 2020. From COVID-19 and the devastating economic impacts of the pandemic to racial justice protests, widespread natural disasters, our current cultural moment presents unprecedented mental health concerns, and particularly for marginalized communities. For this reason, I led a field-wide call to action for mental health research and treatment that resulted in this #TalkMentalIllness course.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Vozes da Mudança Social (Coursera) Coursera
Laureate Education

Vozes da Mudança Social (Coursera)

Em tempos de instabilidade política, desequilíbrio ambiental e desigualdade social, jovens agentes de mudanças sociais estão liderando o caminho para solucionar os desafios da atualidade. O que você está fazendo para gerar mudanças positivas e sustentáveis? O programa Vozes da Mudança Social é um curso on-line, gratuito e de curta duração, elaborado e ministrado por oito jovens empreendedores.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Science of Well-Being for Teens (Coursera) Coursera
Yale University

The Science of Well-Being for Teens (Coursera)

A recent survey found that 37% of teens say they have poor mental health. This 6-week course aims to curb this mental health crisis by bringing together the best insights from Dr. Laurie Santos’ popular Yale course Psychology and the Good Life. In this course, you will explore what the field of psychology teaches us about how to be happier, how to feel less stressed, and how to thrive in high school and beyond. The lessons along with short weekly ‘happiness homework’ assignments will ultimately prepare you to put these scientific findings into practice. The ultimate goal is for you to feel better and build healthier habits. Parents, teachers, and other professionals supporting teenagers may also find the course beneficial.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introduction to Personal Branding (Coursera) Coursera
University of Virginia

Introduction to Personal Branding (Coursera)

Though the concept of personal branding isn't new, questions remain about how to create one and, more importantly, what it means to maintain and inhabit that brand. Learners will: understand both what personal branding means and what it means to inhabit their brand o Establish themselves on at least three social media platforms; create a mission statement for their personal brand; build a board of directors for their brand o Become familiar with the basics of digital security and reputation management; create a system for on-going brand maintenance.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Creative Problem Solving (Coursera) Coursera
University of Minnesota

Creative Problem Solving (Coursera)

This course deals directly with your ability for creativity which is a critical skill in any field. It focuses on divergent thinking, the ability to develop multiple ideas and concepts to solve problems. Through a series of creativity building exercises, short lectures, and readings, learners develop both an understanding of creativity and increase their own ability.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
Think Again III: How to Reason Inductively (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

Think Again III: How to Reason Inductively (Coursera)

Want to solve a murder mystery? What caused your computer to fail? Who can you trust in your everyday life? In this course, you will learn how to analyze and assess five common forms of inductive arguments: generalizations from samples, applications of generalizations, inference to the best explanation, arguments from analogy, and causal reasoning. The course closes by showing how you can use probability to help make decisions of all sorts.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
The Science of Well-Being (Coursera) Coursera
Yale University

The Science of Well-Being (Coursera)

In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks