Embrace Adversity & Question Negativity: Growth Mindset Essentials

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 focus on flaws Building a polymathic curiosity Raising our baseline everyday gratitude Zero affirmations Whether you are highly sceptical of the positive or spiritual aspects of gratitude or just fed up with the endless bad news. It can feel hard to feel grateful when things seem so overwhelmingly difficult but this episode will teach you two ways to fight our focus on flaws and see reality with greater clarity. 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 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 Introduction to Gratitude 01:35 Common Problems with Gratitude 04:12 Recurring theme - great achievements will come with problems 07:05 Planning for Problems 08:46 Gratitude in Relationships 09:31 Break Time 09:40 Contextualizing Gratitude and Building Curiousity 12:42 Appreciating Modern Innovations 13:18 Resources for Building Gratitude 16:01 Recap - Choose to see the positive side of things 17:58 Next Week's Episode 18:06 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

19 Nov 202421min

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 working memory Understand ideas from multiple perspectives Enjoy slower and more purposeful progress This episode is a blueprint for building wisdom and clarity of thought and we can't recommend Cal Newport's work enough and his ideas shared in this episode. 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 Cal Newport Links Website - https://calnewport.com/ Deep Questions podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/deep-questions-with-cal-newport/id1515786216 Deep Work - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25744928-deep-work Slow Productivity - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195889760-slow-productivity 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 The Erosion of Deep Thinking 01:46 Using Charlie Mungers Inversion Approach for deep thinking 02:22 [Bad Habit #1] - Outsourcing Our Thinking 03:25 [Bad Habit #2] - Prioritizing Fast Emotional Hits 04:19 [Bad Habit #3] - Checklist Mentality 05:02 System One vs. System Two Thinking 06:13 [Deep Habit #1] - Improving Information Quality + Reducing Quantity 07:46 Cal Newport's Timescales of Consumption 09:34 [Deep Habit #2] - Comfort with Boredom 11:03 Sanitizing Your Phone & Building Phone-Free Activities 13:35 [Deep Habit #3] - Cultivating Attention 16:23 Tracking Your Progress 18:00 [Deep Habit #4] - Increasing Working Memory 21:47 [Deep Habit #5] - Practice Being Intellectual 22:13 Pairing Primary and Secondary Sources 23:02 Richard Feynman's Idea Documents 25:46 Adopting Intellectual Curiosity 27:38 Benjamin Franklin's Deep Thinkers Club 28:12 Launching a Book Club 29:02 Rebranding the Podcast to Psychology Vs. 30:15 Starting a Second Podcast - History of Innovation 31:56 Episode Summary and Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Nov 202436min

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 episode with big take-homes. Host Sam Webster Harris tells us about the 3 biggest mistakes he made in his life and how clearly ego was behind them. These stories show how blinded we can be by our beliefs that we fail to see the obvious answers right in front of us. We round up the episode with some lessons to take forward to be more aware in our own lives of where we trip ourselves up. 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 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 Unconscious bias and why we lie to ourselves 02:54 IQ and ego 05:28 How well do you understand information 07:58 Being aware of your flaws 10:44 Mistake 1 - Unscientific scientist 14:01 Mistake 2 - Unbalanced Balancer 18:14 Mistake 3 - Unentrepreneurial Entrepreneur 22:47 Recap 23:05 Tips on how to become an ego detective 24:27 Tip 1 - Write Down 3 Big Errors You Made 25:24 Tip 2 - Nurturing Strategies 26:46 Tip 3 - Find your low ego crowd 27:17 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12 Nov 202431min

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. We explore ways to make the most of AI's like ChatGPT and Claude to improve your creativity and problem solve. How to uncover lost memories Improve your writing and storytelling Get an elite advisor on anything Think bigger and think differently Generate useful and surprising ideas and connections. Whether you want Warren Buffet to review your investing choices and teach you to be a better investor or you want Morpheus's advice on finding your purpose in life. With a playful approach you can unlock a lot fo fun and creativity and this episode should give you some ideas you haven't thought of before. 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 Tim O'Shea X - @TimOSheaHQ Website - TheBoost.ai 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 Balancing technology and personal growth 03:45 Using AI as a guide 05:40 Creative prompts to spark ideas 08:15 Unlocking hidden memories using AI 10:00 How to ask for help 13:23 Writing and Creativity: A Personal Journey 17:05 Great stories happen to people who tell great stories. 19:13 Using AI for Personal Stories 25:46 Capturing elusive thoughts in real time 27:45 AI and Thought Translation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Nov 202439min

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 Focussing on what truly matters Creating your own luck Overcoming ego and identity Seeing society with a rational viewpoint If you enjoy psychology, philosophy and contemplating how the world and our minds work this episode will have a few insights for you. 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 Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link 📧 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 34 Lessons for life - Exploring Thought-Provoking Ideas 02:14 The Importance of Understanding Books 03:03 Are You Pursuing a Shadow Career? 03:41 The Reality of Side Hustles 04:23 The Necessity of Exercise 04:56 Doing Your Best Work When Not Working 05:48 Ideas are stepping stones 06:23 Money as a Tool 07:03 Life is Too Short for the Wrong Pursuits 07:45 The Importance of Approach 08:32 Practicing Desired Emotions 09:44 Finding Yourself 10:16 Developing Your Personal Voice 11:13 Discipline Over Talent 11:49 IQ and Success 13:10 Apply Yourself Accordingly 14:17 Making Others Feel Clever 15:07 Think Bigger 16:06 Setting Higher Standards for Yourself 16:26 No One Thinks About You as Much as You Do 17:02 Make Your Life Story Interesting 17:55 First Principles Thinking 19:05 Learn from Others' Mistakes 20:04 Too Much of Anything is Bad 21:07 Society is an Accident 21:44 Embrace Unplanned Opportunities 22:30 The World is Duct Taped Together 24:15 Question What You Take for Granted 26:02 Build Your Own Beliefs 28:04 Keep Your Identity Small 28:51 Understanding Biases 30:41 Empathy Makes the World Nicer 30:51 Life is About Contrasts 31:33 Anger is a Useless Emotion 32:30 Camera Angles and Stories 33:56 Big and Small Things Matter 34:34 Final Thoughts and Birthday Wish Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

5 Nov 202438min

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 impact of last-minute scandals What each side doesn't understand? The irrational nature of sensible people Who has been overlooked by politics and what are they thinking The 60th US election coming on November 5th between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has been on the news non stop for a year. Finally, it will all be over and we can move on with our lives. 13% of people remain undecided but with their vote being crucially important in an otherwise 50:50 race, the nuanced factors that sway their thinking have never been more important. Tune in to uncover the psychology of last-minute voters and the hidden mind games controlling the election. 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 Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link 📧 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 Beyond politics - the psychology of elections 02:27 Introduction to Election Tipping Points 03:16 Heuristics and Decision Making behind voter psychology 04:13 Voter Biases and Simplification 05:02 The Role of Vibes in Decision Making 05:39 Campaign Influence and Free Will 07:36 Impact of Random Events 09:00 Trump's Resilience to Scandals 09:26 Comparing Trump and Kamala Harris 15:37 Elon Musk's Influence 16:59 Campaign Strategies for the Final Week 20:43 The Power of Podcasts in Campaigns 23:10 Trump's Podcast Strategy 26:55 Kamala Harris's Debate Performance 27:38 Media Misconceptions About Psychology 33:43 Collective Dissatisfaction in Politics 36:43 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1 Nov 202440min

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 and it relentlessly tries to optimise and take shortcuts. This serves is well in many aspects but cultivating a practice of taking the harder path in our thinking allows us to see hidden truths behind out assumptions. To arrive at better decisions we need to learn to balance uncertainty with statistics and see beyond our limited field of view. It isn't easy but the benefits can greatly improve your outcomes and your mindsets. 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 Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link 📧 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 Benefits of thinking hard thoughts 01:12 Optimizing for the wrong things 03:59 1st - Elimination of doubt 06:55 2nd - Single cause explanation to complex events 09:12 3rd - Justification of your own action whilst judging the actions of others 12:02 Morgan Housel - we are blind to the vast majority of what people are thinking 12:12 Lessons from the book 'Evil' 14:20 4th - Your own field of vision is the same as everyone else's 18:05 5th - The desire to prioritize stories over statistics 20:46 6th - Outsourcing our hard decisions to the opinions of pundits, consultants, and experts 24:09 7th - Overconfidence 26:21 Annie Duke - Thinking of bets 28:22 Accepting probabilities and the reality of a situation 29:33 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

29 Okt 202432min

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 paradox - Seeking external validation prevents internal validation Emotions paradox - Suppressing emotions makes them overwhelm us The Shadow - Rejecting our flaws makes them worse Planning Paradox - Overplanning reduces adaptability Self-Improvement Paradox - The more things you find to fix the more broken you feel Searching and finding can be different things. We learn a more subtle approach to self-improvement that spends more time building wisdom and focusing on smaller immediately actionable steps with less chasing and running in circles. We find answers to the question "How do we balance the art of wanting to improve whilst also wanting to live in contentment in the present?" 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 Get in Touch 👋 Free Call - Schedule Link 📧 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 The Effortlessness Paradox 03:08 The Messy Reality of Self-Improvement 04:23 Introduction to the Growth Mindset Psychology Podcast 05:14 The Paradox of Pursuing Happiness 07:49 The Paradox of Validation 10:52 The Paradox of Emotions 12:53 Carl Jung and the Shadow Concept 13:49 Acceptance Over Rejection 15:07 The Planning Paradox 16:29 Understanding Uncertainty Tolerance 16:47 Steve Jobs' Journey of Adaptability 17:27 Embracing the Unexpected 18:06 The Paradox of Self-Improvement 18:44 The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Self-Help 19:49 The Slow Process of Real Change 22:12 Balancing Self-Improvement and Acceptance 25:22 The Timid Cat Analogy for Happiness 26:33 Final Thoughts and Farewell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25 Okt 202429min