Timeless laws to focus on what matters and live free of stress and anxiety. No matter what life throws your way this year, adopting a Stoic mindset can set you up for both success and satisfaction. Join our host, Sam Webster Harris, as he walks through 24 powerful Stoic rules that are just as important today as 2000 years ago. The lessons will help you develop more mindfulness, discipline, generosity, calmness, and contentment in your life. We'll tackle big ideas like controlling what you can co...
Jan 17, 2025•35 min
Strategic decision-making approaches to build wisdom in your everyday decisions. Annie Duke is the author of Thinking in Bets - A book full of genius psychology and poker tips to help you build mental models to make better decisions. Annie is a psychologist studying cognitive behavioural decision science and in her life as a professional poker player she won the World Series. She was even the highest-paid female player in history when she retired. Her psychology helped her poker and her poker he...
Jan 14, 2025•19 min
The laws of physics are the only true limits, stop letting your brain set fake limits. We accrue all sorts of limiting beliefs for different reasons. Our culture and reference points hide them from us. Or fear of failure keeps us small. This episode explores the psychology of self-limiting beliefs and fixed mindset ideas that sit hidden and unchallenged in our mind. These limiting beliefs sabotage our potential and the only way to stop them it to take ownership of your own thoughts. We explore: ...
Jan 10, 2025•34 min
The psychology of beating procrastination, inaction, and confusion that lets you systematically work towards any goal. Goal setting is easy - Goal achieving is a very different thing. We dig into the main causes and the often small but subtle tweaks we can make that keep us in check. Using ideas from psychology and ancient wisdom we see how humans have dealt with the big hairy ambitious goals over history and how you can too: Task Initiation Paralysis - Shows us how Charles Darwin overcame the m...
Jan 07, 2025•33 min
Stop Dreaming, Start Doing - Action is more important than planning. We are increasingly addicted to planning yet more and more allergic to doing. Get your ducks in a row this year as we learn about the psychology behind our goals and dreams and what it takes to knuckle down, make some hard decisions and start taking action. We discuss some key concepts: What is our real work The problem with motivation and aspirations Waiting for life to blow us in the right direction 4 Burners theory Sam also ...
Jan 03, 2025•22 min
What does it mean to live a good life? The Stoics were the masters of asking the right questions to focus the mind on what's important. At the year's end, it's a perfect time to reflect on who you've been this year and who you want to be going forward. We juggle multiple priorities and hectic demands, so it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day. Today's episode will combine Psychology with Stoicism as we ask the most important questions we can of ourselves to help direct our lives in the directio...
Dec 31, 2024•26 min
Why do we get off track, and how do we get back on track? Humans love goals, but where do our goals come from? How much do we choose them vs. have them chosen for us... We learn how to stop working towards destinations that look good to others. Instead, we dissect what makes a good goal that creates a journey we want to go on. Topics include: The reality of aspirational destinations Focussing on the journeys of your life A healthy relationship with money How to stay motivated The rule of thirds ...
Dec 27, 2024•16 min
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•34 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•33 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•32 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•20 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•46 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•22 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•33 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•30 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•24 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•22 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•39 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•33 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•41 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 Focuss...
Nov 05, 2024•40 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•42 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•35 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•32 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•27 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•37 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•26 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•41 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•28 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•36 min
