Growth Mindset Psychology: The Science of Self-Improvement

• Doing the thing - a short sharp masterclass on creating focus

  There are a million ways to waste time. We don't need a million and one ways to be productive. We just need to - Do The Thing It's easy to overcomplicate productivity: Over analysing your habits Over examing your past Over sharing your strategies. These are all effective ways to not be productive. In this episode, we cut through the fluff and focus on the pure, simple truths. Workshop - Building certainty in an uncertain world 😱 The world is spinning faster and increasingly feels unhinged ✊ Use Psychology to build strong core foundations and make long-term decisions 🎟️ Join us - ⁠https://workshop.growthmindsetpodcast.com⁠ Sponsors 🌱 Cozy Earth - Luxury bedding and loungewear 35% off - ⁠https//CozyEarth.com⁠ - code GROWTH Upgrade to ⁠Premium⁠: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord ⁠GrowthMindset.Supercast.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 Show: Growth Mindset, psychology of self-improvement Episode: Doing the thing - a short sharp masterclass on creating focus Chapters: 00:00 The many ways to tackle productivity 01:35 Essay - "Doing the thing" 03:08 Busy vs productive 04:47 Productivity for a podcaster 07:00 False productivity - Hiking 08:43 Psychology of productivity 09:27 Procrastination - Temporal Motivation Theory 10:49 Planning Fallacy 11:26 Zegarknik effect - Just start 13:19 Adverts 13:25 Questions and answers 13:34 When should I do the thing? 13:44 What if I don't have time? 13:58 How do you make time? 14:59 What if it's hard? 15:48 What if I am not ready to do the thing? 18:45 What if I don't know how to do the thing? 20:01 What if I fail? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  29:45
• Overthinking: The psychology of catastrophizing and how to stop assuming the worst

  We don’t see the future. We predict it — and sometimes we predict disaster before it’s even possible. Catastrophizing is a mental reflex. It’s your mind, desperate for control, drawing monsters where none exist yet. In this episode, we explore the quiet space between stimulus and story — the moment you could choose curiosity over certainty. Relationships, careers, self-worth: all suffer when we confuse our imagined outcomes with inevitable truths. But if we learn to watch the story unfold without believing it, something remarkable happens. We reclaim possibility. You’ll leave with: Understanding of how the brain creates fear to protect itself Tools for building awareness instead of reaction A framework for making peace with uncertainty — and using it to grow The psychology that makes false fears feel real Stop letting your brain run disaster drills for things that haven’t happened. Tune in. Workshop - Building certainty in an uncertain world 😱 The world is spinning faster and increasingly feels unhinged ✊ Use Psychology to build strong core foundations and make long-term decisions 🎟️ Join us - https://workshop.growthmindsetpodcast.com Sponsors 🌱 Cozy Earth - Luxury bedding and loungewear 35% off - https//CozyEarth.com - code GROWTH Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.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 Show: Growth Mindset, psychology of self-improvement Episode: Overthinking: The psychology of catastrophizing and how to stop assuming the worst Chapters: 00:00 Why this topic is popular 01:45 What is catastrophising 04:18 Build awareness 07:10 Magnifying and minimising 08:32 More details feels more real. 10:16 The human tendency to just invent stories 13:22 ADHD 15:31 Catastrophizing and being diagnosed with ADHD 16:17 Balancing worst and best scenarios 17:23 Social anxiety example 19:09 Write a journal 20:31 Alex Hormozi selling gym subscriptions 21:09 Want and don't want chair 23:26 4 stages of intrusive thoughts 28:50 4 step method for mitigating catastrophization 28:50 Step 1 - Awareness 29:57 Step 2 - Challenging the thought 30:40 Step 3 - Imagine the best 31:11 Step 4 - Accept uncertainty 32:55 Catastrophizing is the opposite of Growth mindset 33:14 Episode summary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  40:51
• Bad Habits: The Psychology of Behavioural Debt—and How to Pay It Off

  What if the person you think you are is an outdated idea? In this episode, we explore how habits form—not from logic, but from history. From childhood rules to adult rituals, your behaviours aren’t just choices. They’re echoes. We look at behavioural debt: how the past continues to extract payments from your present and what you can do about it. We look expansively at different ways we pick up all these habits and identities, and then use 5 ideas from psychology and philosophy to fix them. There’s a monk shedding illusions, a writer who redefined his identity, and a cycling team that changed everything with 1% improvements. These aren’t just stories. They’re invitations—to become intentional, to design rituals that serve who you want to be, not who you used to be. Takeaways: Reframe your identity as something you craft, not inherit Use “identity microshifts” to pay off your behavioural debt Hack your own Fresh Start Effect—even on a random Tuesday Learn how to become yourself through subtraction instead of adding more things If you’ve ever felt like your habits were someone else’s or like your current actions no longer serve who you are, this episode will make a lot of sense to you. The real work isn’t in learning more—it’s in unlearning what no longer fits. Workshop - Building certainty in an uncertain world 😱 The world is spinning faster and increasingly feels unhinged ✊ Use Psychology to build strong core foundations and make long-term decisions 🎟️ Join us - https://workshop.growthmindsetpodcast.com Sponsors 🌱 Cozy Earth - Luxury bedding and loungewear 35% off - https//CozyEarth.com - code GROWTH Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.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 Show: Growth Mindset, psychology of self-improvement Episode: Bad Habits: The Psychology of Behavioural Debt—and How to Pay It Off Chapters: 00:00 What makes you, you? 02:52 Memory and the self 04:20 British Accents and lessons of children 05:58 Attachment and behaviour 07:58 Small Actions Compound 09:36 Advert - Magic Mind 09:38 Opening our minds 11:01 Every story has a villain 14:24 Path Dependence: The Continuity Trap 16:21 Self Schema Theory: The Stories We Tell Ourselves 17:52 Neuroplasticity - Hebb's Law and rewiring brain connections 19:56 Friedrich Nietzsche and becoming who you are 21:27 Psychological Rebirth: The Fresh Start Effect 23:20 Conclusion - Paying of behavioural debt 24:36 Feedback 25:07 Send Off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  32:42
• Eat, Pray, Set Boundaries: The psychology of getting your needs met

  How often do you say no? In this episode, I unpack the beautiful mess that is boundary-setting—with stories, psychology, and a touch of Brexit. This episode dives deep into what it really means to assert your needs. Boundaries aren’t about building walls—they’re more like installing a front door with a lock you actually use. We explore why people-pleasing kills self-respect, how resentment creeps in when you’re too “nice,” and why your future depends on the limits you’re willing to draw today. What you’ll take away: 10 signs of poor boundaries How to spot a weak boundary before it drains your energy Why saying no can be the kindest thing you do You teach people how to treat you by what you tolerate How to identify emotional manipulation in everyday relationships A quadrant model that makes difficult conversations easier Listen now if you’re ready to stop being agreeable and start being respected. Workshop - Building certainty in an uncertain world 😱 The world is spinning faster and increasingly feels unhinged ✊ Use Psychology to build strong core foundations and make long-term decisions 🎟️ Join us - https://workshop.growthmindsetpodcast.com Sponsors 🌱 Cozy Earth - Luxury bedding and loungewear 35% off - https//CozyEarth.com - code GROWTH Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.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 Show: Growth Mindset, psychology of self-improvement Episode: Eat, Pray, Set Boundaries: The psychology of getting your needs met Chapters: 00:00 Setting boundaries for how you want to be treated 02:58 Boundaires in life Example 05:10 Why boundaries need balance 07:19 10 signs of poor boundaries 07:35 Difficulty making decisions 07:58 Feeling selfish for saying no 08:18 Frequent apologizing 08:49 Uncertainty about what to share 09:13 Passive aggressiveness 09:49 Losing sense of self 10:10 Need for external validation 10:26 Resentment 10:43 Constant sense of fatigue 11:02 Dramatic relationships 11:34 Abusive situations 15:03 Identifying crap boundaries 15:14 Floppy boundary 17:22 Rigid boundary 19:10 Why we struggle with boundaries 23:09 Creating healthy boundaries 23:39 Personal boundaries 24:07 Social boundaries 25:24 Value-based boundaries 26:43 Communicating boundaries 28:25 Traffic light framework 31:58 The importance of independence 34:41 Book suggestions 35:22 Send off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  41:26
• Science of Mental Toughness: Assess yourself using the 4 quadrants of resilience

  What separates those who break from those who bend? A shift—not in strength, but in perspective. In today’s episode, we look at the 4 quadrants of mental resilience: Control, Commitment, Challenge, and Confidence —using a blend of metaphors, Stoic wisdom, and powerful stories from history. Think of your mind like a car: control is the steering wheel, commitment is the fuel, challenge is the terrain, and confidence? That’s your engine. From Helen Keller to Joan of Arc, you’ll see how legendary mental strength isn’t born—it’s built. Plus, learn why reacting to criticism like a calm kung-fu master might be your new superpower. Mental toughness isn’t built in heroic moments; it’s forged in the quiet choice to show up again. Reflect on where you place your power: inside or out? Anchor your goals in systems, not wishful thinking. Let difficulty be your teacher, not your warning sign. If you’re ready to change how you see resilience, this episode will shift everything. Workshop - Building certainty in an uncertain world 😱 The world is spinning faster and increasingly feels unhinged ✊ Use Psychology to build strong core foundations and make long-term decisions 🎟️ Join us - https://workshop.growthmindsetpodcast.com Sponsors 🌱 Cozy Earth - Luxury bedding and loungewear 35% off - https//CozyEarth.com - code GROWTH Upgrade to Premium: 🏖️ Ad-free listening 🤘 Support the show 🔓 Exclusive AMAs and bonus content 💬 Community Discord GrowthMindset.Supercast.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 Show: Growth Mindset, psychology of self-improvement Episode: Science of Mental Toughness: Assess yourself using the 4 quadrants of resilience Chapters: 00:00 The meaning in suffering 02:14 The 4 elements of mental toughness 02:47 Quadrant of control 07:13 Quadrant of commitment 10:59 Quadrant of challenge 16:02 Quadrant of confidence 20:56 Building mental toughness requires practice 26:57 Send off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  32:36

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