Learn the economics of satisfaction, according to psychology. Our earliest lessons in life include that money can't buy happiness. But is that completely correct? We explore tactics to change your spending that can boost your mood on both a daily level and additionally build a longer-term sense of content satisfaction. Learning how to escape the nudges of advertising and society's expectations of spending and instead live in line with your values and priorities. Everyone has different needs and ...
Sep 06, 2024•40 min
From deciding what to work on to overcoming blockers - All the questions from August were answered in the Ask Me Anything of the month. Free listeners will only have access to the first 20 minutes. Premium subscribers can listen to the whole episode and be able to submit their own questions for future episodes. Questions answered in this episode: What causes resistance to learning? How do you differentiate an indie podcast? (especially when many podcasts have backing by network / business) What ...
Sep 03, 2024•26 min
How to take the best shots in life and enjoy the process. In this episode of the Growth Mindset Psychology podcast, Sam Webster Harris delves into the psychology behind creating and seizing life's opportunities and overcoming the scarcity mindset. We are surrounded by pressures to achieve and plenty of people selling us the way, yet find ourselves going nowhere. Sam outlines practical steps you can take from any point in life to build a system around discovering opportunities and building a life...
Aug 30, 2024•44 min
Expand your perception of experience and build more flow and joy into your daily life. Many people hate time, it is a constant enemy we fight against. Yet it is simply a continuous element of the Universe that we can't change. However, like illusions that can make a straight line seem bent in our minds, we can use our own mind to bend time for ourselves. This episode expands on several psychological phenomena to help you build a better relationship with time: Live a life that feels longer, riche...
Aug 27, 2024•21 min
Channel productivity or creativity on-demand - experience more progress, positivity, and freedom using the power of your environment. In this episode of the Growth Mindset Psychology Podcast, we explore the significant impact of our environment on our overall mindset and actions. Delve into lesser-known productivity tips from neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy and the actionable take-homes you can directly apply to your own life. Key insights explained: Cathedral Effect - for creativity or...
Aug 23, 2024•23 min
3 ways to stay dedicated to what is important in life, in a noisy world (and with a noisy mind). We are immersed in infinite options and distractions of alluring things we could be doing. Naturally we often find ourselves wanting to do all the things. A holiday in the Mediterranean, surfing in Bali or visiting pyramids - Why choose? Pursuing a career in finance, running a YouTube about cars, or becoming a teacher - Frustrating huh... Leaning into philosophy and the inner workings of our psycholo...
Aug 20, 2024•35 min
Live a life well lived by exploring the depths of Psychology and Polyvagal Theory with Dr. Stephen Porges. Join host Sam Webster on the Growth Mindset Psychology Show as he engages in a deep and enlightening conversation with Dr. Stephen Porges, the renowned researcher behind polyvagal theory. This episode delves into fundamental truths about psychology, societal norms, and personal growth. Dr. Porges shares insights on the body's physiological reactions to safety and threat, how they impact our...
Aug 16, 2024•58 min
How to manage stress, build a calmer state of mind and create a foundation for growth and autonomy. Polyvagal Theory is an intriguing sounding term that holds a lot of answers to how the body perceives threats and gives a surprising amount of actionable take homes that we can use in our everyday lives. Join Sam Webster in this episode of the Growth Mindset Psychology Podcast as he dives deep into the fascinating world of fear, security, emotional intelligence and neuroscience. There are three ma...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Principles to enhance learning, independent thinking, and problem-solving, whilst reducing the feeling of being lost. Ever feel like you're constantly consuming information but losing touch with your own thoughts? This episode takes you on a journey back to the essential skill of listening to yourself. We'll explore the impact of continuous content on our ability to think independently and how it can dilute our personal insight. Hear expert advice on creating the mental space necessary for profo...
Aug 09, 2024•23 min
Developing the freedom to choose how you respond to situations in life is a core part of building a growth mindset. A fixed mindset approach leaves you at the mercy of events in life that will make you angry or sad and blame your circumstances with no control from you. A growth mindset allows you to build the space to determine how you react in any situation and be the person you want to be rather than the person the world pushes you to be. To achieve that we examine: The nature of Free Will and...
Aug 06, 2024•54 min
Growth begins at the edge of your comfort zone. Learn to expand your mental horizons and build a healthy relationship with the fear of failure. To build new connections in the brain and learn we need to fail. Becoming an expert in anything requires being comfortable with being a crappy amateur. A great paradox of success is that it is built on a foundation of failure. Perfection is actually a common cause of fixed mindset attitudes and can block growth. Learn practical strategies to embrace the ...
Aug 02, 2024•20 min
How our brain chemistry and architecture works are fascinating. It can also help us embrace challenges, learn faster and reconfigure our mindsets. Today we are diving deep into how the brain lays down its wiring and builds beliefs and behaviour patterns. We can then better understand how our mindsets are formed, how they shape our outcomes and what we can do about them. This is core knowledge for anyone wanting to invest in their personal journey and influence their outcomes in life. Instead of ...
Jul 30, 2024•36 min
Dive into the timeless insights of Morgan Housel's book 'Same As Ever' and the nature or things that never change. We unpack the most profound lessons from the book, exploring how subtle shifts in perspective can lead to monumental changes in personal finance and decision-making. Sam invites his book review cohost Nicolas Vereecke on the show to discover how Housel's principles can be applied to everyday life, providing clarity and guidance through the complexities of economics and behavioural f...
Jul 26, 2024•52 min
There is no better time to contemplate the meaning of your existence than a Tuesday. Tackle the meaty questions of life, using philosophical tools and some lessons from the school of Positive Psychology. We curiously dive through the principles of physics and the lessons of history to contemplate the effect of time on our lives. Opposingly we examine the effects of our life on everything else and why we even do things. Along the way, we'll take on ideas from Ghengis Kahn and Julius Caesar to son...
Jul 23, 2024•23 min
Some of the most important life skills sound strange to work on. But high-performers work on them anyway. From building your curiosity and enthusiasm to a better sense of humour. Several life skills make all the difference in your social and professional life. We'll even learn essential ideas that make us happier, more patient and more right. Yes, that's a thing. What's odd is that society says many things like our interests and humour are just part of who we are. We feel ashamed to want to work...
Jul 19, 2024•1 hr
Why top performers embrace imperfection and celebrate victories. We dig into the show archives to uncover the timeless topic of perfectionism. Hedonic adaption is a major reason we aren't as happy as we should be and relentlessly pursue the next thing without taking time to even reflect on the happiness we are seeking. Lessons from the episode: Balancing perfect with good enough When our work is better than we think it is Why we aren't as happy as we deserve The importance Recognising achievemen...
Jul 16, 2024•27 min
The surprising psychology of rationality, bias, numbers and happiness can improve your decision-making. Daniel Kahneman's 'Thinking Fast and Slow' explores the interplay between our fast, intuitive thinking (System 1) and our slow, rational thinking (System 2). Sam discusses various cognitive biases and how our thinking systems cause them such as the anchoring effect, availability heuristic, confirmation bias, and overconfidence bias. He also covers fundamental theories like prospect theory and ...
Jul 12, 2024•49 min
What do we learn from the legends of history and how they approached innovation and making things happen? An action-packed episode today to inspire curious minds to think big and act accordingly. What blocks ideas? How to make progress? The power of consistency Why do Greek statues have tiny packages? All that and more in this Growth mindset masterclass into the psychology of genius thinkers and the behaviours and mental models behind making things happen. Sponsors: ManScaped : Leading the charg...
Jul 09, 2024•22 min
Standard Self-improvement advice is usually beige, unhelpful and often just wrong. We dive into the topic of "You are the 5 people you spend most time with" and learn where it is wrong and dangerous to follow. Instead, we learn a toolkit to be ourselves wherever we are and build relationships that nourish us. Lessons: Where common advice falls short Signs of toxic relationships blocking you from your potential Signs of healthy relationships Using the Growth Mindset to control your influences and...
Jul 05, 2024•20 min
Research has shown 4 mindset pairs as recurring themes for success in life and leadership: Fixed vs. Growth Mindset Closed vs. Open Mindset Prevention vs. Promotion Mindset Inward vs. Outward Mindset By looking into the science of how these mindsets show up in our lives we can build a more robust approach to success and happiness. These mindsets affect how we show up, how easy we are to get on with, and our relationship with fear. Ryan Gottfredson PhD is a researcher, author and consultant who h...
Jul 02, 2024•51 min
How to uncover our fixed mindsets and the biases that keep us stuck? We dive into the concept of cognitive rigidity and the five cognitive biases that affect our daily lives: Functional fixedness and how to be more creative The endowment effect and irrational valuation of possessions The bandwagon effect and are terrible relationship with social pressure Hyperbolic discounting and why we are so lazy The Zeigarnik effect and why we endlessly ruminate Through personal anecdotes and historical exam...
Jun 29, 2024•45 min
Practical Psychology for navigating life's challenges and cultivating joy. Sam Webster Harris explores the concept of life as a series of games, blending psychological insights with practical wisdom. He discusses how every aspect of life involves some form of gameplay, from professional networks like LinkedIn to personal decisions and social interactions. We dig into the intersection of Philosophy and Psychology to understand the experiencing self and how we navigate our moments. Sam emphasizes ...
Jun 26, 2024•23 min
What is the source of anger and how do we learn from everything in life? This episode explores how to investigate our assumptions and find a deeper understanding of the world around us. We use psychology to investigate our curiosities and find unexpected and useful lessons for life whilst having fun. Cool moments coming up: The difference between Intrinsic load, Extrinsic Load and Germane Load How Expectation violation is the worst thing ever Where does anger come from? Which is Sam's favourite ...
Jun 23, 2024•26 min
The secret to unparalleled success is not enduring endless misery. In fact, it's the opposite. We learn how to amplify our abilities in any domain by making the process more enjoyable and actionable. The brain is like a muscle analogy is a harmful myth. It is based on some half-truths that on the surface make sense. Learn: Why we fail at doing hard things The differences between brain and muscle training How to train the brain for success The biggest misunderstanding of Stoicism. Further reading...
Jun 21, 2024•32 min
Cognitive biases distort reality with good and bad results (like really bad). Today is a fun experiment where we combine Psychology and History. We learn about the 7 perception-based illusions of Cognitive Biases whilst applying them to the life of Napoleon. We understand how biases can be useful for us and lead us to greatness and how they can also be our downfall. Cognitive biases covered: Selective Perception - Why we see things how we want to see them Exposure Effect - How repetition makes u...
Jun 18, 2024•38 min
How to break down complexity and build true understanding. Richard Feynman is a Nobel Prize-winning Physicist and is widely considered one of the greatest teachers ever. He invented the razor "If someone uses a lot of complexity and Jargon to explain something, they probably don’t understand it." His 4-step technique uncovers the gaps lurking in our knowledge so we can truly master something. Downloadable example Feynman Technique doc - https://samwebster.notion.site/Feynman-Technique-Template-1...
Jun 16, 2024•20 min
Uncover the reasons behind your behaviour patterns and what to do about it. Attachment is a core part of human instinct that is formed incredibly early yet impacts our whole life. Jessica Baum is a Licensed Mental Health Counsellor, Relationship Expert and author. Expect to learn: Why anxious attachment styles develop How to alter an attachment style How to communicate effectively with each attachment style What happens in couple therapy Sponsor - Cozy Earth Luxury Bamboo sheets and Loungeware t...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Cure your blockers and make meaningful progress on everything you want to do. We don't have a problem with ideas. We have a problem with strategy. We unpack how professionals think and plan their work in any domain so you can become strategic. Stop the ideas from passing you by and learn how to make better decisions that lead to concrete action. Sponsor - Cozy Earth Luxury Bamboo sheets and Loungeware that become softer the more you use them. 35% off code 'GROWTH' - CozyEarth.com Sponsor - Sleep...
Jun 12, 2024•10 min
Who are you VS. Who do you want to be? It could also be stated - What do you want to do now VS. What do you want to have done? In both cases, the reality of how we act in the present moment can often be very different than all the desires of who we want to be and what we want to achieve in the future. In this episode, we break down the Psychology of the Behaviour model that drives our actions. We learn how to close the gap between our desires and our actions to achieve our own version of success...
Jun 09, 2024•20 min
Mindsets can be described as life-changing, miracle-cure thought processes with vague and fluffy brilliance. In reality, Mindsets have a lot of answers to very powerful core elements of our behaviours. They are extremely important to understand. It's also important to not misuse them. Let's dig into: What exactly is and isn't a Mindset. Common Mindset myths What to look out for as bad science and lies We also dig into some of the most popular mindset pairs that are regularly mis-understood and m...
Jun 07, 2024•31 min
