Environment Design: 3 Ways to Improve Your Thinking (without thinking)

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 direction we want them to take. Topics include: Turning obstacles into opportunity Overcoming the fears that hold us back Simplifying our life Walking the walk Taking control of our responsibilities. Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul: Inner peace comes from self-awareness and reflection" Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🎇 Constant Wonder - The podcast for questioning why Explorations of wonder and awe in science, art, & history 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - Growth Mindset Chapters: 00:00 Connecting Stoic wisdom and growth mindsets 02:36 Am I Practicing What I Preach? 03:59 How can I simplify my life to focus on what's important? 06:02 Will this matter in one year or five years time? 08:20 What is within my control? 10:18 How can I turn obstacles into opportunities? 14:17 What fears are holding me back? 15:32 How am I contributing to my own dissatisfaction? 17:01 To be or to do? 18:34 Are you doing your job? 19:41 What would it mean to live a good life today? 21:13 Send off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

31 Joulu 202424min

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 As we learn more about appreciating the road less travelled and what a good life means to us we can step back from the frenetic distractions and occupations to think about what really matters. As the famous saying goes "It's just another cold dark night on the side of Everest" - Sometimes our goals feel boring in the day-to-day and we lose sight of the big picture. Remember there is something worth fighting for. Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🥙 Hello Fresh - America's #1 meal kit provider 10 free meals across 7 boxes HelloFresh.com/FreeGrowthMindset 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - Growth Mindset Chapters: 00:00 Journey vs Destination and modern Decision overwhelm 02:09 Aspirational Destinations, Food Make-up and other myths 04:12 Reality is not sexy, Focus on the now 05:38 Think of your heartbeats 06:39 Beware chasing money 08:18 Enjoying the journey - What is a good game? 09:34 The Rule of Thirds 10:22 Another dark cold night on the side of everest 11:16 Take homes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

27 Joulu 202414min

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 and Wonder A great way to learn some science and develop your own sense of curiosity and wonder is to dive headfirst down rabbit holes of psychology and overly analyse movies for the sheer hell of it. It's a great movie and there's lots to learn about ourselves, Christmas and happiness when we look beyond the candy canes and maple syrup. Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🥙 Hello Fresh - America's #1 meal kit provider 10 free meals across 7 boxes HelloFresh.com/FreeGrowthMindset 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - Growth Mindset Chapters: 00:00 Diving into Buddy the Elf's Psychology 01:14 Psychological Underpinnings of Elf 04:47 Buddy's Positive Coping Strategies 06:04 Identity, Cultural Adaptation and Stages of Identity Development 09:20 Buddy's Social Interactions 11:43 Social Contagion Theory 13:38 Buddy's Authentic Enthusiasm 16:10 Neurodivergence and Buddy's Brain 21:10 Psychology of Joy and Wonder 24:27 Family Systems and Buddy's Impact 27:04 Lessons from Buddy the Elf 28:14 Conclusion: Spread Joy and Wonder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

20 Joulu 202431min

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 build deeper wisdom You'll come away with an improved growth mindset that doesn't fall for promises of instant results and is ready to put time and effort into cultivating wisdom instead of consuming it. Recommended Books: Slow Productivity - Cal Newport The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg Pachinko - Min Jin Lee Wild Swans - Jung Chang Replay - Ken Grimwood Dalai Lama's Cat - David Michie And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini The Mood Of Future Joys - Alastair Humphreys Siddartha - Herman Hesse Science References: Dr Robert Sternberg - What is Wisdom and How Can We Develop It Dr Patricia Alexander - The Development of Expertise: The Journey from Acclimation to Proficiency Dr Paul Zak - The Neuroscience of Narrative Transportation: Why Inspiring Stories Make Us React Dr Keith Oatley - Fiction: The Narrative Simulation of Social Worlds Dr Richard Nisbett - The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🥙 Hello Fresh - America's #1 meal kit provider 10 free meals across 7 boxes HelloFresh.com/FreeGrowthMindset 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - Growth Mindset Chapters: 00:00 How to actually help yourself with self-help 01:18 The Paradox of Modern Self-Help 02:36 The Slow Wisdom of Ancient Cultures 03:06 The Harm of Fast Advice & Illusion of Instant Mastery 05:01 Cal Newport's Framework for Personal Development - Three Types of Self-Help Content 06:17 The Candy Bar of Self-Help: Social Media 07:06 The Protein Shake: Longer Form Content 07:50 The Full Meal: Books 10:08 The Power of Narrative Transportation 19:27 The Value of Diverse Perspectives 20:56 Building a House of Personal Growth 22:08 A Balanced Approach to Content Consumption 24:13 The Danger of Overwhelming Amounts Information and Instructions 27:07 Conclusion: Cultivating Wisdom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Joulu 202432min

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 ourselves to the perfect lives all around us in the digital world and feel we don't stack up. This episode will help you understand what's really going on: The evolutionary roots of FOMO How our modern world is making us anxious Why ADHD is on the rise Where to take back our focus What to celebrate and look up to. Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🥙 Hello Fresh - America's #1 meal kit provider 10 free meals across 7 boxes HelloFresh.com/FreeGrowthMindset 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - Grow Chapters: 00:00 Psychology of FOMO 04:03 Evolutionary Roots of FOMO 08:15 Modern Technology and Social Media's Role in FOMO 10:18 Consumer Culture, Crypto and Parasocial Relationships 14:31 Psychological Costs & Impact on Mental Health 15:50 FOMO and Decision Making 17:17 The Rise of ADHD 18:54 Abundance vs. Scarcity Mindset 21:09 The Joy of Missing Out (JOMO) 21:36 Practical Tips to Overcome FOMO 25:17 Conclusion: Embracing the Present Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Joulu 202430min

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 Lifestyle inflation to investing strategy or the issue of inaction feeling you have to learn more first This episode covers the 14 biggest mistakes we make when we think about money. Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🥙 Hello Fresh - America's #1 meal kit provider 10 free meals across 7 boxes HelloFresh.com/FreeGrowthMindset 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - GrowthMindsetPodcast.com Chapters 00:00 14 habits that keep you poor 00:24 1st bad habit - Starting tomorrow 00:52 2nd - Starting too many and not finishing any 01:45 3rd - Paying yourself last 02:51 4th - Not investing in yourself 03:34 5th - Reading a lot and not doing 04:27 6th - Not knowing your income or expenses 06:02 7th - Getting comfortable with bad debts 07:28 8th - Not having an emergency fund 08:44 9th - Lifestyle inflation 10:17 Ad break 10:28 10th - Hanging with the wrong crowd 12:02 11th - Blaming your circumstances 12:35 12th - Focusing purely on saving now 13:16 13th - Investing without a strategy 14:38 14th - Waiting for perfect conditions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10 Joulu 202418min

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 emotions by learning the different types of Non-Player-Character: The Conformist NPC - Believes the consensus politically correct ideas The Contrarian NPC - Believes the opposite of the consensus and seeks conspiracy The Disciple NPC - Believes their preferred leader The Tribalist NPC - Follows the tribe and us vs them mentality The Averager NPC - Seeks the middle ground without understanding the merits of an argument. Learn the psychology of the processes behind each NPC type and how different types of critical thinking systems or defence systems get turned on and off based simply on who delivers the message. Building your own worldview is one of the most important things you can do in an increasingly confusing and polarised world. Sources: Gurwinder - Why You Are Probably An NPC People Shot to Death by US Police By Race FBI Crime Data USA National Suicide Data Journal Review: Health of Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated Children Vaccine Research Overview: The Vaccine Question Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🥙 Hello Fresh - America's #1 meal kit provider 10 free meals across 7 boxes HelloFresh.com/FreeGrowthMindset 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - GrowthMindsetPodcast.com Chapters: 00:00 Psychology of Modern Culture and Predictability of Crowds 01:24 The Brain's Information Processing Shortcuts 03:09 Gurwinder on NPC's 04:48 System One and System Two Thinking 07:08 The Influence of Social Media and Algorithms 07:56 #1 The Conformist NPC 14:38 #2 The Contrarian NPC 21:49 #3 The Disciple NPC 26:03 #4 The Tribalist NPC 30:29 #5 The Averager NPC 36:51 Strategic Cognitive Resource Allocation 38:12 Recap of NPC Types and Strategies 39:31 The Importance of Selective Deep Thinking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 Joulu 202443min

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 in the episode: Increasing the depth of your interests Stop trying to 'fit in' to other peoples standards Prioritise your areas of effort Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.com Sponsors: 🥙 Hello Fresh - America's #1 meal kit provider 10 free meals across 7 boxes HelloFresh.com/FreeGrowthMindset 🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing 10% off with code 'PSYCHOLOGY' UnboundMerino.com Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset 📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com Growth Mindset Psychology: Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. 📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset) 🛜 Website - GrowthMindsetPodcast.com Chapters 00:00 Why fit in when you were born to stand out? 00:59 Create more interesting interests 02:31 The maths of interest - 10x depth = 100x more interesting 03:38 Examples of geeking out that are fascinating 09:10 When to stand out 14:31 When to chill out 16:14 Conclusions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3 Joulu 202421min