College is more than focusing on academics.
It is late nights, big ideas, group projects that test you, deadlines that never quit, and memories you’ll never forget. More than anything, it is full of opportunities to discover who you are, what you want, and who you want to become.
The Brain Shift Journal: College Success Edition is a guided journal with prompts, exercises, and tools to help you turn all that discovery into clarity, momentum, and achievements you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life.
"I plan to write a small note inside before giving it to her so it becomes something she remembers as part of starting college." - Mom
Behavior Shift
The Brain Shift Journal: College Success Edition | 18 Week Transformational Goal Journal for University & Grad Students
The only guided goal journal designed for student success.
Better habits, smarter decisions, better goals—driving academic and personal success in just minutes a day.
The Brain Shift Journal: College Success Edition is a semester-based, structured journal created by a team of behavioral scientists and goal experts. It bridges the gap between intention and action—guiding students through the proven strategies that lead to better focus, stronger habits, and meaningful progress toward academic and personal goals.
It’s not just another planner, it’s a cognitive toolkit built to enhance focus, improve follow-through, and promote real behavioral change.
Maximize the Impact of Brain/Shift™ on Your Campus
Introducing a new student success tool is only the beginning. The bigger impact comes from how students and campus teams learn to use it in their daily routines and conversations.
To help colleges maximize the value of the Brain/Shift College Success Edition, we offer three enhancements that bring the journal to life.
Together, these enhancements help institutions launch Brain/Shift effectively, equip campus teams to support students, and integrate behavioral science practices into the student experience.
Collapsible content
Custom Student Workshop and Keynotes
Helping Students Understand How to Use Brain/Shift
When students receive a journal or planner, many aren’t sure how to use it effectively. A guided introduction can turn it from something that sits on a desk into a tool students use throughout the semester.
Our Brain/Shift Student Workshop/Keynote address introduces students to the science behind the journal and walks them through how to use it.
The workshop can be delivered in person, as a live webinar, or as a customized video for your institution.
Students learn how to:
- Set meaningful keystone goals that support academic success and personal growth
- Break big goals into milestones and stepping-stones that make progress achievable
- Build daily habits and routines that improve focus, productivity, and time management
- Use reflection to stay motivated, manage stress, and maintain positive mental wellbeing
- Apply behavioral science insights to navigate common college challenges—from staying on track academically to building stronger social connections and friendships
Ideal for orientation programs, welcome week, first-year seminars, and student success initiatives.
Train-the-Trainer Sessions
Equipping Campus Teams to Coach Students
Students interact with many support professionals across campus—advisors, success coaches, wellness staff, residence life leaders, and faculty. When these groups share a common framework for helping students set goals, build habits, and reflect on progress, the impact multiplies.
Our Train-the-Trainer Sessions prepare campus professionals to effectively support students using Brain/Shift. These sessions are designed for teams such as academic advisors, student success coaches, wellness professionals, residence life staff and RAs, and orientation leaders.
Training focuses on:
- The behavioral science behind Brain/Shift to help ensure full utilization
- Coaching students through goal setting and reflection processes
- Helping students overcome motivation dips and procrastination, deal with the stress of college life, and building healthier routines, greater resilience, and more meaningful engagement in campus life
- Integrating Brain/Shift into advising and coaching conversations
The result is a consistent ecosystem of support that reinforces the habits students are building.
Faculty & Instructor Curriculum Guide
Integrating Brain/Shift into First-Year Courses
Many colleges offer first-year seminars or college success courses that help students develop academic and life skills. Our Faculty and Instructor Guide make it easy to integrate Brain/Shift into these courses.
The guide includes:
- Lesson ideas aligned with the journal’s weekly themes
- Classroom discussion prompts
- Goal setting and reflection exercises
- Activities that connect behavioral science to real student challenges
- Flexible ways to incorporate the journal into coursework
Faculty can integrate Brain/Shift directly into a semester-long course as part of the overall class design—using it to support weekly reflection, goal setting, and behavioral science discussions that reinforce student development throughout the semester. It can also be used as a flexible add-on to existing coursework, providing a structured framework that helps students connect class concepts to their personal goals, habits, and progress.
