The science behind spreading Christmas cheer and getting people to like you. Not only is Elf a wonderfully silly and enjoyable Christmas movie. Its premise is based on a fascinating concept that can be explored using psychology. What happens when an adult is raised by elves? Not only do we get to revisit a great story but we can learn about: Attachment Theory Identity Development Social Contagion and spreading good vibes Family Systems Nuerodivergence and upbringing effects The psychology of Jor...
Dec 20, 2024•32 min
What does psychology say about the role of information in building wisdom and lasting change in our lives? There is an explosion in self-help content. From gurus on Tik Tok to 85,000 self-help books being published a year. But what actually works? This episode explores the psychology of learning and how to put information into practice: How to identify time-wasting nonsense? 3 steps to build a healthy content diet The best forms of content for retention and lasting changes? Take home strategy to...
Dec 17, 2024•32 min
Modern technology amplifies our fear and emotions. FOMO is on the rise. Whether you are worried about being invited to a party, checking social media, or finding it harder to make decisions. FOMO is increasingly driving our emotions and actions. It is a deeply natural feeling built into us through hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. But it hasn't kept up with our incredible pace of technological change. Part of the reason we have such a decline in mental health is we can compare ourselv...
Dec 13, 2024•30 min
The small but very real problems that hold you back in a big way. Personal finances feel just that, personal. Yet most of our issues are fundamentally quite predictable and universal based on different mindset patterns and beliefs we pick up. Money isn't a completely natural tool; it is a human invention that helps us overcome trade and resource accumulation problems. Learning the basics of how to think about money and deal with it allows for us to become a master of our own future. From Lifesty...
Dec 10, 2024•19 min
The Psychology of the 5 Types of Non-Player Characters - How to Fix Them and Be a Main Character Thinker. The same story plays out online every day. The same people are getting outraged about the same things again and again. Like Clockwork. The human brain is highly optimised to rely on heuristics and simplistic decisions. Modern media hijacks this system to control our beliefs and emotions based on the agenda of other people. This episode helps listeners build autonomy over their beliefs and em...
Dec 06, 2024•44 min
The surprising techniques to be more yourself - that also make you more interesting. There are endless self-help books and blogs about how to increase your charisma. In the same way you can increase your sales skills by following a checklist but there is something fake about it. Instead, we look at little-known ways you can naturally get better at being yourself. We can then expand on our own natural tendencies and be more interesting to the people we are inherently interested in. Some lessons i...
Dec 03, 2024•21 min
The Art of War: High School Edition Mean Girls was one of the biggest movies of 2004 - Twenty years later it still touches the themes that teenagers struggle with the world over. Navigating cut-throat social hierarchies and the urge to morph our identity to fit in. Regina George is the villain of the movie. She is always ready to take others down and manipulate anyone around her to retain power. But there is more going on than meets the eye. In this episode: Where narcissism comes from How high-...
Nov 29, 2024•31 min
What are the secret drivers behind the year's biggest shopping day, and why is there so much fighting? Black Friday has become an inescapable part of life, with a deal notification even popping up as a type this... (thanks Grammarly I don't need 50% off) But it wasn't always this way. In the early 1950's Philadelphia after Thanksgiving, a flood of traffic would swell for the local football game and downtown shopping. Cops called the gridlock "Black Friday" as a derogatory term. It was slowly ado...
Nov 26, 2024•28 min
A 3 part decision framework to understand and solve any frustration. Ultimately all problems are a perception of the mind. Sometimes there is a way around or through the problem that we can't see. This episode Sam Webster explores a framework to help us diagnose the problem we are experiencing so we can correctly deal with it. Problems we want to have - Small problems that are connected to a bigger goal we want (see the last episode) Problems we can't change - Realities of life we need to accept...
Nov 22, 2024•23 min
Burn the manifestation guide and step away from the affirmations. Here are some unusual but realistic ways to build happiness, wonder and gratitude for the world around you. We all know we "should" build more gratitude if we want to be happier. You may have heard of gratitude journalling or even be practising it. Today we explore ideas that aren't spoken about but make a difference to your baseline enjoyment of life. Some themes we highlight: The recurring problem with goals Fighting the natural...
Nov 19, 2024•21 min
5 practices to adopt and 3 bad habits to avoid to improve mental clarity and decision-making. This episode covers some of the best lessons from Cal Newport's writing on Deep Work and Slow Productivity. We focus on becoming deeper thinkers who question easy answers and build opinions from a place of deep understanding. Top lessons: How to avoid shallow thinking traps Understand where your opinions come from Interval Training for concentration Ways to think like an intellectual Increase your worki...
Nov 15, 2024•37 min
Stop getting in your own way by spotting the lies your mind wants you to believe. Learn about the psychology behind the hidden biases that blind us from the truth. This episode explains the main reasons behind the biggest mistakes you make in life and how to overcome them. Takes homes: The link between IQ and the ability to lie to ourselves Warning signs that you aren't being truthful 3 biggest mistakes Sam made last decade 3 ways to catch your own ego This is a deceptively easy listening episod...
Nov 12, 2024•31 min
How to use AI to avoid lazy thinking traps and think deeper, faster, and with greater perspective. Tim O'Shea joins the podcast to talk about ways to genuinely improve your thinking with AI. Employing a self-improvement coach is expensive. As well as a writing coach or a therapist or a coder or an accountant or an SEO strategist. Generative AI has been heralded as giving us the tools to do all of these things on one simple interface. But the reality of using it can seem clunky and well-limited. ...
Nov 08, 2024•39 min
Mental models, hard truths & priceless wisdom I wish I knew 10 years ago. From how to really think about IQ or Money to establishing the point of your life in a confused society. This episode covers 34 of my favourite and unintuitive lessons this year for getting along in the world without regrets. Some of the main themes covered: Pursuing the right things Working with your emotions Improving your career and work life Making the most of your potential Building your own independent beliefs Fo...
Nov 05, 2024•38 min
Conflicted, Confused, and Ready to Vote - Uncovering the discombobulated thoughts of the great undecided who will sway the election. We dive into the hidden forces in our minds that sway our decisions when we don't know how to decide. From Free Will to Confirmation Bias, Appearances and a Turn of Phrase. What doesn't matter and what could make all the difference in a voters mind. We cover: Where do our preferences come from How we shortcut confusing decisions into simple flawed decisions The imp...
Nov 01, 2024•40 min
We celebrate 'hard work" but forget to consider the benefits of thinking "hard thoughts". This episode teaches how to navigate uncertainty without taking easy options by building a capacity for complexity. Allow doubt to improve our decisions Understand multiple causes behind outcomes Reduce judgement of others Improve your field of vision Weight statistics properly Take ownership of forming opinion without using others Accept lower confidence and greater accuracy The mind is full of complexity ...
Oct 29, 2024•33 min
A lot of the self-improvement industry and advice is backwards. The more books we read the further away from our goals we become. Ultimately we want to be happier yet we are accruing more and more things to fix before we are happy with ourselves. In this episode, we explore the biggest paradoxes where the work we do can make us more brittle and breakable: Effortlessness Paradox - The harder we try the harder we make it Happiness Paradox - Pursuing Happiness instead chases it away Validation para...
Oct 25, 2024•30 min
A masterclass on showing up as your best self. No toxic overworking or ultra-positive crap, but instead knowing and being yourself. We learn how to: Honestly understand our emotions Resist unnecessary mental time travel Distinguish our wants and our values Get a grip on reality and get a grip on yourself with this short episode with no punches pulled, only real and important lessons. Join host Sam Webster Harris on the Growth Mindset Pyscholgy podcast for an insightful exploration of mental stre...
Oct 22, 2024•26 min
Unconventional Strategies to finish important things and ease the overwhelm in your life. You might have a burning pile of unfinished side projects. For some reason reading another book on productivity doesn't solve the problem. This episode covers uncommon ideas that actually work even for people with ADHD. This episode will help you: Let go of baggage - cut the things slowing you down Stop fighting - Work with your energy and interests instead of against yourself Identify blockers - stop your ...
Oct 18, 2024•35 min
Win friends and influence people by being yourself, with style We all have different skills that are worth others knowing about. What isn't so easy is communicating those qualities in a believable, effective, and timely manner. Today's episode will show you how to build and tell your story whilst crafting a better presence: Psychology of authenticity Identifying your real strengths How to be memorable Why a little kindness does go a long way You don't need to change yourself but instead work on ...
Oct 15, 2024•25 min
Practical Psycholgoy lessons from Warren Buffet's business partner. Ideas used to create rational thinking and build a Trillion-Dollar empire. Today we dissect the best lessons from "Poor Charlies Almanac" A blueprint for rational thinking and sensible investing. Charlie Munger loved Psychology and wanted there to be a course on Practical Psychology to be taught at all universities. He believed it would make the world a better place. His book combines his favourite tools from psychology as well ...
Oct 11, 2024•39 min
Being who you were meant to be Vs. Choosing who you get to be. There is a lot of content about finding yourself. There is also a lot of content about success and greatness and how brilliant leaders forged a new path or "Put a dent in the Universe"... What if we are thinking about it completely wrong? In this episode, we explore different ways of thinking about success and the common connections between ideas and people who break out and defy the odds. From Hitler to Haribo and Jesus to Radiohead...
Oct 08, 2024•26 min
Navigate different challenges by building understanding, mental models and good strategy. In this episode of the Growth Mindset Psychology Podcast, host Sam Webster Harris dives into a range of listener questions: How do Auditory processing difficulties affect willingness to learn Does a lack of Enthusiasm indicate a negativity bias How do you stay organised and on time with big projects and avoid panicking and procrastination Why do I get scared of people who come across differently from my exp...
Oct 04, 2024•34 min
The anti-hustle guide to finding a balance that maximises happiness through intention and wisdom. Optimising every second of your calendar to the nth degree isn't a recipe for dreamlike productivity, it's a collision course for anxiety-riddled burnout. In our era of ever more time demands what are we to do? Oliver Burkman in his book 4,000 week presents a guide to living as a human being in a messy and demanding environment that allows you to prioritise what's essential in a calm and rational ma...
Oct 01, 2024•20 min
Identify scarcity mindsets and unpack your relationship with money, success and purpose. We revisit a discussion with Kyle Livingston that explores how we find meaning in our lives and where the biggest sources of stress and anxiety come from for many. Money and success. A story-powered episode where we travel through Kyle's journey as an abandoned orphan and living with anxiety to being able to calm himself from the constant stress and consistently create opportunities. Top lessons: How to make...
Sep 27, 2024•51 min
Stop Chasing the Self-Improvement Treadmill - Learn to focus on making the world a better place. We are drowning in self-improvement content to make us wealthier, wiser, more productive sexier versions of ourselves. Yet at the same time, it seems like humanity is going backwards. What gives? In the modern-day obsession with ourselves, we are missing out on the bigger picture of how to lead an impactful life that genuinely touches those around us. Yet if we want to be the most impactful version o...
Sep 24, 2024•22 min
Conscious experience is a result of our awareness, but how do we take back our free will from external drivers? This episode explores the links between the conscious experience and what Free will really is. Building on that we explore how the body deals with pain and negative emotions and how we can learn to carve free will, awareness and control into our day-to-day lives. Dr Stephen Porges is the father of Polyvagal Theory and how the body perceives threat and safety. His lessons are crucial fo...
Sep 20, 2024•24 min
Let's talk about Power Moves - Lethal Combinations of traits that can unlock your full potential Most of us have strengths and with each strength is a corresponding weakness. Says who? History has shown time and time again that embodying seemingly contradictory traits can result in outsized success. We look at the weaknesses we accept and how to overcome the fixed mindset, break out of our natural blockers, and become a spikey, unbalanced individual with additive strengths. Balancing lessons fro...
Sep 17, 2024•44 min
A masterclass on our hidden mindsets and diagnosing the real problems behind our internal blockers. Your mind lies to you about what you can and can't do and creates infinitely logical reasons to hide your real fears. To overcome the real blockers in achieving our goals, we need to spend less time diagnosing external problems and more time understanding what's happening inside us. Humans are ultimately driven by underlying fear and desire, coming up with reasons that ignore this is hiding the tr...
Sep 13, 2024•36 min
Anxiety is built into all our brains, examining the role of trauma in building fear responses helps us understand how to combat fear. We can also learn how trauma manifests in General Anxiety Disorder, Borderline (BPD), Narcissism (NPD) and ADHD. By studying the neuroscience of how fear and anxiety work in the brain we understand how life events and trauma shape our perceptions. To overcome the different fears we can learn from strategies required for individuals with specific disorders relating...
Sep 10, 2024•51 min
