Growth Mindset Psychology: The Science of Self-Improvement

How to take the best shots in life and enjoy the process. In this episode of the Growth Mindset Psychology podcast, Sam Webster Harris delves into the psychology behind creating and seizing life's opportunities and overcoming the scarcity mindset. We are surrounded by pressures to achieve and plenty of people selling us the way, yet find ourselves going nowhere. Sam outlines practical steps you ca...

Expand your perception of experience and build more flow and joy into your daily life. Many people hate time, it is a constant enemy we fight against. Yet it is simply a continuous element of the Universe that we can't change. However, like illusions that can make a straight line seem bent in our minds, we can use our own mind to bend time for ourselves. This episode expands on several psychologic...

Channel productivity or creativity on-demand - experience more progress, positivity, and freedom using the power of your environment. In this episode of the Growth Mindset Psychology Podcast, we explore the significant impact of our environment on our overall mindset and actions. Delve into lesser-known productivity tips from neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy and the actionable take-homes y...

3 ways to stay dedicated to what is important in life, in a noisy world (and with a noisy mind). We are immersed in infinite options and distractions of alluring things we could be doing. Naturally we often find ourselves wanting to do all the things. A holiday in the Mediterranean, surfing in Bali or visiting pyramids - Why choose? Pursuing a career in finance, running a YouTube about cars, or be...

Live a life well lived by exploring the depths of Psychology and Polyvagal Theory with Dr. Stephen Porges. Join host Sam Webster on the Growth Mindset Psychology Show as he engages in a deep and enlightening conversation with Dr. Stephen Porges, the renowned researcher behind polyvagal theory. This episode delves into fundamental truths about psychology, societal norms, and personal growth. Dr. Po...

How to manage stress, build a calmer state of mind and create a foundation for growth and autonomy. Polyvagal Theory is an intriguing sounding term that holds a lot of answers to how the body perceives threats and gives a surprising amount of actionable take homes that we can use in our everyday lives. Join Sam Webster in this episode of the Growth Mindset Psychology Podcast as he dives deep into...

Principles to enhance learning, independent thinking, and problem-solving, whilst reducing the feeling of being lost. Ever feel like you're constantly consuming information but losing touch with your own thoughts? This episode takes you on a journey back to the essential skill of listening to yourself. We'll explore the impact of continuous content on our ability to think independently and how it...

Developing the freedom to choose how you respond to situations in life is a core part of building a growth mindset. A fixed mindset approach leaves you at the mercy of events in life that will make you angry or sad and blame your circumstances with no control from you. A growth mindset allows you to build the space to determine how you react in any situation and be the person you want to be rather...

Growth begins at the edge of your comfort zone. Learn to expand your mental horizons and build a healthy relationship with the fear of failure. To build new connections in the brain and learn we need to fail. Becoming an expert in anything requires being comfortable with being a crappy amateur. A great paradox of success is that it is built on a foundation of failure. Perfection is actually a comm...

How our brain chemistry and architecture works are fascinating. It can also help us embrace challenges, learn faster and reconfigure our mindsets. Today we are diving deep into how the brain lays down its wiring and builds beliefs and behaviour patterns. We can then better understand how our mindsets are formed, how they shape our outcomes and what we can do about them. This is core knowledge for...

Dive into the timeless insights of Morgan Housel's book 'Same As Ever' and the nature or things that never change. We unpack the most profound lessons from the book, exploring how subtle shifts in perspective can lead to monumental changes in personal finance and decision-making. Sam invites his book review cohost Nicolas Vereecke on the show to discover how Housel's principles can be applied to e...

There is no better time to contemplate the meaning of your existence than a Tuesday. Tackle the meaty questions of life, using philosophical tools and some lessons from the school of Positive Psychology. We curiously dive through the principles of physics and the lessons of history to contemplate the effect of time on our lives. Opposingly we examine the effects of our life on everything else and...

Some of the most important life skills sound strange to work on. But high-performers work on them anyway. From building your curiosity and enthusiasm to a better sense of humour. Several life skills make all the difference in your social and professional life. We'll even learn essential ideas that make us happier, more patient and more right. Yes, that's a thing. What's odd is that society says ma...

Why top performers embrace imperfection and celebrate victories. We dig into the show archives to uncover the timeless topic of perfectionism. Hedonic adaption is a major reason we aren't as happy as we should be and relentlessly pursue the next thing without taking time to even reflect on the happiness we are seeking. Lessons from the episode: Balancing perfect with good enough When our work is b...

The surprising psychology of rationality, bias, numbers and happiness can improve your decision-making. Daniel Kahneman's 'Thinking Fast and Slow' explores the interplay between our fast, intuitive thinking (System 1) and our slow, rational thinking (System 2). Sam discusses various cognitive biases and how our thinking systems cause them such as the anchoring effect, availability heuristic, confi...

What do we learn from the legends of history and how they approached innovation and making things happen? An action-packed episode today to inspire curious minds to think big and act accordingly. What blocks ideas? How to make progress? The power of consistency Why do Greek statues have tiny packages? All that and more in this Growth mindset masterclass into the psychology of genius thinkers and t...

Standard Self-improvement advice is usually beige, unhelpful and often just wrong. We dive into the topic of "You are the 5 people you spend most time with" and learn where it is wrong and dangerous to follow. Instead, we learn a toolkit to be ourselves wherever we are and build relationships that nourish us. Lessons: Where common advice falls short Signs of toxic relationships blocking you from y...

Research has shown 4 mindset pairs as recurring themes for success in life and leadership: Fixed vs. Growth Mindset Closed vs. Open Mindset Prevention vs. Promotion Mindset Inward vs. Outward Mindset By looking into the science of how these mindsets show up in our lives we can build a more robust approach to success and happiness. These mindsets affect how we show up, how easy we are to get on wit...

How to uncover our fixed mindsets and the biases that keep us stuck? We dive into the concept of cognitive rigidity and the five cognitive biases that affect our daily lives: Functional fixedness and how to be more creative The endowment effect and irrational valuation of possessions The bandwagon effect and are terrible relationship with social pressure Hyperbolic discounting and why we are so la...

Practical Psychology for navigating life's challenges and cultivating joy. Sam Webster Harris explores the concept of life as a series of games, blending psychological insights with practical wisdom. He discusses how every aspect of life involves some form of gameplay, from professional networks like LinkedIn to personal decisions and social interactions. We dig into the intersection of Philosophy...

What is the source of anger and how do we learn from everything in life? This episode explores how to investigate our assumptions and find a deeper understanding of the world around us. We use psychology to investigate our curiosities and find unexpected and useful lessons for life whilst having fun. Cool moments coming up: The difference between Intrinsic load, Extrinsic Load and Germane Load How...

The secret to unparalleled success is not enduring endless misery. In fact, it's the opposite. We learn how to amplify our abilities in any domain by making the process more enjoyable and actionable. The brain is like a muscle analogy is a harmful myth. It is based on some half-truths that on the surface make sense. Learn: Why we fail at doing hard things The differences between brain and muscle t...

Cognitive biases distort reality with good and bad results (like really bad). Today is a fun experiment where we combine Psychology and History. We learn about the 7 perception-based illusions of Cognitive Biases whilst applying them to the life of Napoleon. We understand how biases can be useful for us and lead us to greatness and how they can also be our downfall. Cognitive biases covered: Selec...

How to break down complexity and build true understanding. Richard Feynman is a Nobel Prize-winning Physicist and is widely considered one of the greatest teachers ever. He invented the razor "If someone uses a lot of complexity and Jargon to explain something, they probably don’t understand it." His 4-step technique uncovers the gaps lurking in our knowledge so we can truly master something. Down...

Uncover the reasons behind your behaviour patterns and what to do about it. Attachment is a core part of human instinct that is formed incredibly early yet impacts our whole life. Jessica Baum is a Licensed Mental Health Counsellor, Relationship Expert and author. Expect to learn: Why anxious attachment styles develop How to alter an attachment style How to communicate effectively with each attach...