Why morning routines are toxic
Morning routines are supposed to set you up for a day of success and a life of happiness and joy. Yet most self-improvement and productivity advice on morning routines does the opposite. It makes you feel like a failure who will never be good enough and isn't made of the right stuff to ever succeed. We break down the problems with most advice and how to actually improve your day and your life with a morning routine that actually works. - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters 00:00 Morning routines and toxic productivity 01:51 #1 Do the thing that you find hard to do at any other time 03:21 #2 Plan your day before 03:53 #3 Sleep 05:22 Be Adaptable 06:20 Match what you want to do with what you want to have done 07:33 A few questions to ask yourself 07:44 What do I struggle to do in a day? 08:04 What do I need to change to plan for tomorrow better? 08:27 How can I improve my sleep? 09:35 What is on my want to have done list, but doesn't actually ever appear on my want to do list. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
6 Juni 202312min
How to stop catastrophizing
Catastrophizing is a type of cognitive distortion. It's a faulty and inaccurate way of thinking that involves imagining the worst possible outcome in a given situation. Catastrophizing can hold people back in life, work, and relationships and we all do it in some way, and some of us do it a lot more than others. Understanding the natural psychological processes behind catastrophizing can help us build awareness and learn to create a more balanced and productive view of our futures. - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters 00:00 What is catastrophising 03:00 Build awareness 05:52 Magnifying and minimising 07:15 The problem with imagined details 08:58 The human tendency to invent stories 12:01 Catastrophizing and being diagnosed with ADHD 14:56 Balancing worst and best scenarios 16:02 Social anxiety 17:48 Write a journal 19:10 Alex Hormozi selling gym subscriptions 19:48 Want and don't want chair 22:08 4 step method for mitigating catastrophization 22:13 Step 1 - Awareness 23:20 Step 2 - Challenging the thought 24:03 Step 3 - Imagine the best 24:34 Step 4 - Accept uncertainty 26:19 Catastrophizing is the opposite of Growth mindset 26:40 Therapy & CBT 29:20 Episode Summary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
30 Maj 202332min
5 biggest lessons of Stoicism
Stoicism is the time-tested solution to life's problems and living with a greater peace of mind. In this mini-series of how to stop complaining we couldn't skip over the OG's of not complaining. This episode breaks down the 5 most important concepts from Stoicism and how to apply them in the modern day: The dichotomy of control Amor Fait - Love of fate Negative visualization Virtue is the soul good Mindful acceptance With a few stories from Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius we get a great reminder of what's important in life =) - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters: 00:00 Intro to Stoicism 01:59 1st concept - The dichotomy of control 04:33 2nd concept - Love of fate 08:08 3rd concept - negative visualization 09:55 4th concept - Virtue is the soul good 13:01 5th concept - Mindful acceptance 17:01 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
25 Maj 202319min
Diagnose and fix your real problems
Complaining can be a very good diagnostic tool for identifying the actual problems in our life. The key is not just to sit around complaining about the same things year by year to learn how the important issues affect us and how to fix them. Awareness of the major flaws in our situation and mindsets allows us to make a strategy for how we want to address them going forwards and build a life we don't complain about. - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters 00:00 Problems and illusions of the mind 00:41 General framework for complaints 01:28 3 types of problems 01:59 1st type of problem - the problem you want to have 02:35 2nd type of problem - the problem you can do nothing about 04:01 3rd problem - the problems you do not want to have 04:50 Issues of fixed mindsets 05:57 Community and purpose 07:15 Too many interests and desires 10:29 Assessing the scale of a problem 11:56 How our problems change over time 13:01 Turning complaints into tools 15:00 Some wise words Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
22 Maj 202316min
Gratitude lessons (that don't suck)
No one likes people who complain and yet it is so hard to stop complaining about problems in our life. Gratitude is sold as the answer to all our happiness woes. Stop having expectations, be happy and grateful for what you have, and never let another day go to waste. It's so simple and yet it doesn't work because it isn't that easy. This episode covers the most powerful strategy that has helped people find gratitude in many areas they didn't feel possible without meditating, journaling or re-aligning their chakras. Just some simple psychology and reframing the information in their heads to make them see what they already know. - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the flaw with gratitude 00:35 Standard tips on how to build gratitude 00:54 Issues with gratitude - focusing on problems 01:38 Example - Lawn being ruined 02:18 Example - Arctic trip 02:57 Example - Frustrating emails 04:16 Recurring theme - great achievements will come with problems 06:14 Planning ahead 08:00 Example - Social influencer trolls 08:53 Example - Romantic partner problems 09:37 Recap - Notice to see the positive side of things 11:35 Next week's episode - Problems you don't want to have 11:42 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
16 Maj 202313min
Feeling behind? How to seize opportunities [before its too late]
The Go For it Window was a concept introduced by David Perrel to help people spot giant opportunities in their life. Opportunities come around regularly but are mostly missed because we don't see them for what they are. Learning to spot luck as it happens and seize life's big chances is key to our success. Developing a mindset that embraces change and discomfort is an essential part of the Growth Mindset and making the most of the "Go For it Windows" in our life. - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters 00:06 Intro 00:25 Overview of the "Go for It Window" 01:20 David Perell's explanation 03:50 People are blind to opportunities - have contrarian views 04:52 David Perell's example - AirBnB 05:41 Example #2 - Not getting a degree 06:40 Sam investing in Free Trade 07:19 Sam investing in a men's make-up company 09:32 Quote from Thomas Edison Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
9 Maj 202310min
10 painful truths about productivity [you NEED to hear] from Nir Eyal
Nir Eyal is a behavioural expert and bestselling author in the field of attention. His work to help people become Indistractable has helped people create systems and mindsets for building focus. We all know what we need to do to achieve most of our goals. Yet we don't achieve them because of unplanned distractions and poor attention management. To live the life we truly want we need to learn the art of managing distraction and becoming indistractable. We discuss the biggest insights from years of research and science to help you live with more peace and less chaos whilst you get the important things done whilst also enjoying down time. - - - Connect with Nir: Nir's blog - NirandFar.com Twitter - @NirEyal - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters 00:00 Introduction to building focus - Nir Eyal 02:48 What is Distraction 03:58 Any action can be traction or distraction 07:22 Sam's 10 day meditation 08:21 Story behind how everything happened - got distracted whilst spending time with her daughter 10:26 Reason why we get distracted - internal triggers 13:49 Vipassana 10-day retreats 15:06 Feeling bad is not bad 19:01 detachment from reality 21:26 syncify 21:48 Making pacts - Price, Effort, Identity 22:09 Effort pact 23:27 Price pact 23:40 Identity pact 24:34 Cigarettes and being indistractable 31:50 Nir's next mission 32:40 Send off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
2 Maj 202336min
How to be more decisive - Instant brain hack
A quick strategy to cure confusion and be more decisive. This simple brain hack can radically simplify our situation when we feel confused and help us make hard decisions and take action. We can all become confused with the pile-up of priorities and our different obligations. The worst thing is no decision yet we can sit in confusion unable to move on. In many cases there is a simple way to cure confusion and make stuff happen. - - - Connect with Sam: Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth Mindset Twitter - @samjamharris Instagram - @SamJam.zen - - - Chapters 00:00 - You don't have time to be confused 01:41 - Identify the truth of the matter 02:39 - Buridians Donkey 04:08 - My booking dilemmas to NASA launch failures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
25 Apr 20237min
