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Hi there, I'm Paula Caproni.

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And I want to welcome you to this course,

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The Science of Success: What
Researchers Know that You Should Know.

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I'm teaching this course from the Ross
School of Business at the University of

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Michigan in Ann Arbor, a town that's
also known by its ancient name,

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the land of 1,000 coffee shops.

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In this session you'll learn about,
the specific goals of this course and

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how it will help you achieve the success
that you desire and deserve.

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And let me start by asking
you a few questions.

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Have you ever wondered,
why do some people achieve their

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life goals while others muddle through and
never reach the success that they desire?

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And why do some people
who excel in school and

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they seem destined for
success stall early in their careers?

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While others who demonstrate less than
stellar academic ability end up enjoying

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meaningful and productive careers, often
exceeding the expectations of others.

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Have you ever wondered,

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why do some people bounce back from
failure while others fall apart?

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And what are some of the most important
lessons that children should learn

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early in life?

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To help them lead happy fulfilling and
productive lives?

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Fortunately, researchers have
asked the same questions.

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And they've come up with answers.

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Answers that you will learn
right here in this course.

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Specifically, this course will give
you answers to the following question.

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What do the most successful people
do differently than others?

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Can these characteristics and

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behaviors be learned?
Thankfully, the answer to this one is yes.

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And what can you do to
increase the possibility that

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you will achieve your goals
throughout your life?

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In the following sessions
you'll learn strategies for

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achieving success, strategies that
I wish I knew when I was younger.

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Like most people, I learned about success
through the school of hard knocks.

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Taking two steps forward and
one step backward.

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I don't come from a family
that talked about success.

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For the first 25 years of my life,
I never even thought about,

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what success would look like or
feel like, never mind how to achieve it.

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Born in the United States,

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I'm the daughter of an Italian immigrant
father and a Polish American mother.

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Neither of my parents
finished high school.

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And my Italian grandmother, my nonna, my
only grandparent who lived long enough for

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me to get to know and, who helped raised
me, never finished elementary school.

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We lived in an apartment upstairs
from the family luncheonette

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until I was 12 years old.

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My two sisters and I were first-generation
highschool students, as well as,

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first-generation college students.

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I'm very proud of my family background.

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In our homes my siblings and I learned
many precious lessons about relationships,

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respect and responsibility.

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And this lessons continue
to serve me well, and

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as you'll hear later in this course
they are significant predictors of success.

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Well, we had plenty of conversations at
home, we didn't talk about our hopes and

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dreams for the future, and we certainly
didn't talk about meaningful jobs or

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career paths.

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We lived very much in the moment,
managing to pay the bills during the week.

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And on weekends meeting
at the Italian grove,

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where we watched the old men play
bocce and the old women play cards.

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Now let's fast forward to today.

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After making my way
through community college,

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a part-time undergraduate program while
I worked full time, an MBA program, and

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a PhD program in organizational
behavior at Yale University,

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I joined the faculty of the Ross School of
Business at the University of Michigan.

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For close to 30 years I have been
teaching courses about, leadership and

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high performing teams to MBA students,
as well as to graduate students from

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public policy, public health,
engineering, the medical school,

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information technology,
education, social work and more.

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I have coached over 500 executives to help
them discover pathways to their short and

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long-term goals.

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I've had several leadership roles,

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including academic director with
the full and part time MBA programs.

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And I've consulted with
several organizations as well.

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Now, I've also written two books, one
that I wrote to compliment this course.

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It's called, The Science of Success: What
Researchers Know that You Should Know.

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And it's a practical book that provides
all the materials from this course,

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as well as,
several additional self-assessments and

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additional information that compliment
what you're learning in this course.

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Given my early background,

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it's no surprise that I often wondered,
how on earth did I get here?

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Working at this wonderful job at
the University of Michigan Ross School

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of Business.

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Throughout my years at the Ross School of
Business, and through my own consulting

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work, I've had many conversations
with graduate students and executives

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about their life goals, and their
progress toward achieving those goals.

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Many were heading towards
the success that they desire, and

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some weren't, some came from privileged
backgrounds, but many didn't.

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Some already had the external makers
of success, a high status job,

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a big house, a new car,
but they weren't happy.

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Some didn't want or have many of
the external markers of success,

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and they were delighted with their lives.

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Some knew at a young age what they
wanted to be when they grew up.

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Others, like me, didn't find their
way until they were much older.

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And some were still finding their way.

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Through these conversations, my interest
grew from, how did I get here?,

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to How do people, all kinds of people,
become successful?

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Fortunately, the University of Michigan
is a world renowned research university.

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I have access to decades of top
quality academic research about,

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why some people achieve and exceed their
dreams, while others don't come close.

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I've learned that the secret to
success are hiding in plain sight in

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academic journals, and books,
many that can be found easily online.

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But few people ever read these studies,
because they don't know they exist.

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And even if everyone knew about
the existence of this abundant and

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valuable research,
who would have the time and

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patience to read the thousands of
pages of research articles, and books

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in which academics often use obscure and
uninspiring language,

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written primarily for other academics?

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Well, I do.

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That's what I'm trained to do.

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That's what I get paid to do.

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And most importantly,
that's what I want to do,

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because it's my way of contributing
to others through my work.

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Now, although this course is
based on the science of success,

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my goal is first and
foremost to help you achieve personal and

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professional success,
however, you define success.

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Of course taking this course won't
get you where you want to go in life,

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unless you implement what you learn.

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So, this is a practical course.

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And I will provide you with concrete
strategies, that you can use for

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moving step by step towards your goals.

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You'll also have the opportunity
to write a personal action plan

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in the last session of this course.

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Be forewarned that this course is likely
to challenge some of your taken for

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granted beliefs about
what predicts success.

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So, you'll want to take this
course with an open mind.

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You'll need to unlearn
limiting beliefs and

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behaviors that can hold you back,
as well as, learn new beliefs and

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behaviors that will propel you
forward towards your goals.

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Now, you may be asking yourself whether
the lessons in this course are universal.

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And that's a very good question.

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In addition to my work in the US,
I've traveled to many different parts of

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the world, and I've worked with executives
on their leadership development in the for

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profit, nonprofit, and government sectors.

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I've worked with people who work
in business, manufacturing,

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telecommunications, education, medicine,

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global health, sports management,
the arts, and more.

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Based on years of working with people in
many different jobs around the world,

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I've found that the lessons about
success are indeed universal.

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After all,

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regardless of where we come from, we're
all members of the same human species.

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And from Rio to Riyadh,
we share similar hopes and dreams.

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We want to believe that
our lives are meaningful.

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We want to make a difference
in the lives of others.

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We want to love and be loved.

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We want to be competent at
something that matters.

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We want a sense of control over our lives,
and our future.

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And we want to have grace and

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resilience as we ride the inevitable
ups and downs of every day life.

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I realize that some of you are taking
this course not for yourself, but

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to help others achieve their life goals.

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Your students, your employees,
or your children.

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If you're taking this course to help
others, you will learn strategies for

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success that you can teach to others,
and by doing so, you can help others

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get closer to achieving their dreams and
living a good life.

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Regardless of where you live and work,
and regardless of your reasons for

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taking this course, I hope you find this
course to be inspiring as well as useful.

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By the time you finish this course,

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you will know more than most people
know about what predicts success.

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And you will have had the opportunity
to start implementing what you learn.

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And you will be closer to
achieving your goals, and

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helping others achieve their goals,

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than when you started this course.

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I'm grateful to have the opportunity
to share the exciting

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findings from the science
of success with you.

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And I wish you the very
best on your journey.