Growth Mindset Psychology: The Science of Self-Improvement

What are the secret drivers behind the year's biggest shopping day, and why is there so much fighting? Black Friday has become an inescapable part of life, with a deal notification even popping up as a type this... (thanks Grammarly I don't need 50% off) But it wasn't always this way. In the early 1950's Philadelphia after Thanksgiving, a flood of traffic would swell for the local football game and downtown shopping. Cops called the gridlock "Black Friday" as a derogatory term. It was slowly adopted by shops and morphed into the retail phenomenon we know today. We pull the curtains back on this crazy day: Psychological levers that get us to spend Case studies of different fights and drama How shopping impacts our emotions What are we really seeking from a deal Learn about why our rational thinking gets turned off as shops manipulate our minds to get us into a buying frenzy and how it can turn violent. And whose fault is it? 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 The Contradiction of Black Friday 02:20 A Brief History of Black Friday 05:01 The Perfect Storm of Psychological Triggers 07:12 Case Studies of Black Friday Madness 09:29 Deindividuation, Competition, Social Contagion and Polyvagal Theory 11:34 Cyber Monday and Online Shopping 15:41 The Financial Costs of Black Friday 17:45 Global Perspectives on Black Friday 19:31 Human Nature Revealed by Black Friday 20:49 Social Dynamics & the Irrationality of Value 21:32 Final Thoughts on Black Friday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 3 part decision framework to understand and solve any frustration. Ultimately all problems are a perception of the mind. Sometimes there is a way around or through the problem that we can't see. This episode Sam Webster explores a framework to help us diagnose the problem we are experiencing so we can correctly deal with it. Problems we want to have - Small problems that are connected to a bigger goal we want (see the last episode) Problems we can't change - Realities of life we need to accept Problems we don't want to have - Actual problems we need to creatively and logically solve This episode covers the whole framework with details on steps 2 and 3. To listen to the full set of ideas for part one see the last episode on real advice to build gratitude that doesn't suck. 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 Problems are illusions of the mind 01:22 3 types of problems you might complain about 02:02 #1 The problem you want to have 02:39 #2 Problems you have to accept 03:56 Our issue with dreaming of what isn't 08:05 #3 - the problems you dont want to have 08:51 The right mindset towards what can and can't be changed 09:58 Priorities to get right in life 11:16 Our plague of too many desires 14:29 Determining if a problem is worth dealing with 15:56 Growing up and wisdom 17:00 Using complaints as tools to reflect, learn about, and improve yourself 18:57 Wise words to leave you with Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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