Timeless laws to focus on what matters and live free of stress and anxiety.

No matter what life throws your way this year, adopting a Stoic mindset can set you up for both success and satisfaction.

Join our host, Sam Webster Harris, as he walks through 24 powerful Stoic rules that are just as important today as 2000 years ago. The lessons will help you develop more mindfulness, discipline, generosity, calmness, and contentment in your life. We'll tackle big ideas like controlling what you can control, letting go of resentment, and finding joy in simple things.

So tune in to learn how embracing voluntary discomfort, practising gratitude, and reviewing your actions can help you achieve equanimity and personal growth. With a little bit of Stoic philosophy in your back pocket, you'll be ready to handle whatever comes your way with grace and wisdom.

Episode recommendations:

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Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

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Chapters

00:00 The answer for living a good life

01:31 Pre-roll advert

01:35 24 Rules of Stoicism

02:02 #1

02:49 #2

04:29 #3

06:47 #4

07:47 #5

09:43 #6

10:47 #7

11:46 #8

13:25 #9

14:45 #10

16:05 #11

17:27 BetterHelp ad

18:46 #12

19:42 #13

20:37 #14

21:31 #15

22:25 #16

23:25 #17

24:39 #18

25:21 #19

26:01 #20

27:01 #21

27:41 #22

28:53 #23

29:53 #24

30:33 Bonus

Topics:

biggest lessons of stoicism

stoicism principles and mindsets

ancient stoic wisdom

growth mindset psychology

resilience and grit

cultivating generosity

gratitude practices

Everyday mindfulness

self-discipline and growth

reflection, improvement learning

self-improvement podcast

ancient philosophy for modern times

live like a stoic

boosting inner strength

handling adversity

overcoming challenges and setbacks

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Genius decision-making strategies to build wisdom in your everyday decisions.

Annie Duke is the author of Thinking in Bets - A book full of genius psychology and poker tips to help you build mental models to make better decisions.

Annie is a psychologist studying cognitive behavioural decision science and in her life as a professional poker player she won the World Series. She was even the highest-paid female player in history when she retired.

Her psychology helped her poker and her poker helped her psychology.

The summation of her lessons are wrapped up in the book 'thinking in bets' and in today's episode I break down my 5 favourite rules and mental models from the book that are worth using in your life.

At a simple level, building wisdom is the process of making better decisions. Nothing more. so that's what we're going to learn about today

Related episodes

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Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

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Chapters

00:00 Thinking in Bets summary - Understanding life's chances

01:56 How Annie Got into Poker

04:24 Rule 1 - Seek Truth

05:26 Rule 2 - Do not chase losses

07:08 Mental models

07:35 Model 1 - Wisdom is good choices - (you don't know what a good choice is)

10:32 Model 2 - Question common knowledge

12:55 Model 3 - Make bets

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The laws of physics are the only true limits, stop letting your brain set fake limits.

We accrue all sorts of limiting beliefs for different reasons. Our culture and reference points hide them from us. Or fear of failure keeps us small.

This episode explores the psychology of self-limiting beliefs and fixed mindset ideas that sit hidden and unchallenged in our mind.

These limiting beliefs sabotage our potential and the only way to stop them it to take ownership of your own thoughts.

We explore:

As we launch into 2025 it's a great time to reflect on what has held us back and raise our bar for this year. This episode will help you set your sights higher and uncover the areas of potential you have untapped.

This episode carries on the mini-series on goals and achievement:

Previous season on Fear:

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Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset)

🛜 Website - Growth Mindset

Chapters:

00:00 The Illusion of Limitations

02:18 Self-Efficacy Theory & The Brain's Security System

04:23 Safe Limits & Overcoming Social Anxiety

06:39 Reference Point Dependence

08:46 The Four-Minute Mile Barrier

09:52 Cultural Influences on Limitations

11:12 The Polgar Experiment: Genius is Made

13:18 Learning at Any Age

16:17 The Power of Environment

18:45 Advert Break

19:09 The Placebo Effect

20:46 Redesigning Your Environment

23:06 Strategies to Break Mental Barriers

24:08 Questioning Your Limits

26:40 Final Thoughts on Overcoming Barriers

27:19 Conclusion

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The psychology of beating procrastination, inaction, and confusion that lets you systematically work towards any goal.

Goal setting is easy - Goal achieving is a very different thing.

We dig into the main causes and the often small but subtle tweaks we can make that keep us in check.

Using ideas from psychology and ancient wisdom we see how humans have dealt with the big hairy ambitious goals over history and how you can too:

Sam also lists some of the most effective resources and tools you can access to stay on track to beat the common problems we face.

This episode carries on the mini-series on goals and achievement:

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• Explorations of wonder and awe in science, art, & history

Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset)

🛜 Website - Growth Mindset

Chapters:

00:00 How we lose track of reality and where to find it

01:21 Unrealistic expectations

02:07 Not ready for the moment

05:36 Time to adjust to new habit

06:11 Personal responsibility - No external help - No momentum

07:49 Charles Darwin and Task Initiation Paralysis

10:02 Beating Motivation with "when - Then" contracts

13:06 Ulysses contracts and Victor Hugo's writing strategy

16:47 Get it out of your head

17:43 Cohort learning

19:10 Coaching

20:02 Accountability Groups

21:45 Future letters

23:02 Bonus tips

24:07 Temporal discounting and the real Marshmallow study

26:18 Keeping promises to ourselves

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Stop Dreaming, Start Doing - Action is more important than planning.

We are increasingly addicted to planning yet more and more allergic to doing.

Get your ducks in a row this year as we learn about the psychology behind our goals and dreams and what it takes to knuckle down, make some hard decisions and start taking action.

We discuss some key concepts:

Sam also shares his own results, including the failures and successes behind taking bigger leaps and focusing on your main goals.

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Sponsors:

🎇 Constant Wonder - The podcast for questioning why

• Explorations of wonder and awe in science, art, & history

🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing

Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset)

🛜 Website - Growth Mindset

Chapters:

00:00 Amateur vs Professional goal-seeking

00:38 Growth Minded ambition vs Fixed Minded

01:07 The trap of 'find your calling'

02:29 The real work behind your calling

03:21 "When I feel like it" - means "never"

04:36 Writing as a hobby or a profession

06:16 Podcasting at professional quality

08:12 Making your own path

10:26 Sam's results and reflections

14:40 4 Burners Hypothesis

16:26 Questions to stop dreaming and start doing

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What does it mean to live a good life?

The Stoics were the masters of asking the right questions to focus the mind on what's important.

At the year's end, it's a perfect time to reflect on who you've been this year and who you want to be going forward.

We juggle multiple priorities and hectic demands, so it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day. Today's episode will combine Psychology with Stoicism as we ask the most important questions we can of ourselves to help direct our lives in the direction we want them to take.

Topics include:

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul: Inner peace comes from self-awareness and reflection"

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Sponsors:

🎇 Constant Wonder - The podcast for questioning why

• Explorations of wonder and awe in science, art, & history

🐏 Unbound Merino - Highest quality Merino wool clothing

Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset)

🛜 Website - Growth Mindset

Chapters:

00:00 Connecting Stoic wisdom and growth mindsets

02:36 Am I Practicing What I Preach?

03:59 How can I simplify my life to focus on what's important?

06:02 Will this matter in one year or five years time?

08:20 What is within my control?

10:18 How can I turn obstacles into opportunities?

14:17 What fears are holding me back?

15:32 How am I contributing to my own dissatisfaction?

17:01 To be or to do?

18:34 Are you doing your job?

19:41 What would it mean to live a good life today?

21:13 Send off

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Why do we get off track, and how do we get back on track?

Humans love goals, but where do our goals come from?

How much do we choose them vs. have them chosen for us...

We learn how to stop working towards destinations that look good to others.

Instead, we dissect what makes a good goal that creates a journey we want to go on.

Topics include:

As we learn more about appreciating the road less travelled and what a good life means to us we can step back from the frenetic distractions and occupations to think about what really matters.

As the famous saying goes "It's just another cold dark night on the side of Everest" - Sometimes our goals feel boring in the day-to-day and we lose sight of the big picture. Remember there is something worth fighting for.

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Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset)

🛜 Website - Growth Mindset

Chapters:

00:00 Journey vs Destination and modern Decision overwhelm

02:09 Aspirational Destinations, Food Make-up and other myths

04:12 Reality is not sexy, Focus on the now

05:38 Think of your heartbeats

06:39 Beware chasing money

08:18 Enjoying the journey - What is a good game?

09:34 The Rule of Thirds

10:22 Another dark cold night on the side of everest

11:16 Take homes

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The science behind spreading Christmas cheer and getting people to like you.

Not only is Elf a wonderfully silly and enjoyable Christmas movie. Its premise is based on a fascinating concept that can be explored using psychology.

What happens when an adult is raised by elves?

Not only do we get to revisit a great story but we can learn about:

A great way to learn some science and develop your own sense of curiosity and wonder is to dive headfirst down rabbit holes of psychology and overly analyse movies for the sheer hell of it.

It's a great movie and there's lots to learn about ourselves, Christmas and happiness when we look beyond the candy canes and maple syrup.

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Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset)

🛜 Website - Growth Mindset

Chapters:

00:00 Diving into Buddy the Elf's Psychology

01:14 Psychological Underpinnings of Elf

04:47 Buddy's Positive Coping Strategies

06:04 Identity, Cultural Adaptation and Stages of Identity Development

09:20 Buddy's Social Interactions

11:43 Social Contagion Theory

13:38 Buddy's Authentic Enthusiasm

16:10 Neurodivergence and Buddy's Brain

21:10 Psychology of Joy and Wonder

24:27 Family Systems and Buddy's Impact

27:04 Lessons from Buddy the Elf

28:14 Conclusion: Spread Joy and Wonder

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What does psychology say about the role of information in building wisdom and lasting change in our lives?

There is an explosion in self-help content. From gurus on Tik Tok to 85,000 self-help books being published a year. But what actually works?

This episode explores the psychology of learning and how to put information into practice:

You'll come away with an improved growth mindset that doesn't fall for promises of instant results and is ready to put time and effort into cultivating wisdom instead of consuming it.

Recommended Books:

Science References:

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Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

📺 Watch - YouTube (Growth Mindset)

🛜 Website - Growth Mindset

Chapters:

00:00 How to actually help yourself with self-help

01:18 The Paradox of Modern Self-Help

02:36 The Slow Wisdom of Ancient Cultures

03:06 The Harm of Fast Advice & Illusion of Instant Mastery

05:01 Cal Newport's Framework for Personal Development - Three Types of Self-Help Content

06:17 The Candy Bar of Self-Help: Social Media

07:06 The Protein Shake: Longer Form Content

07:50 The Full Meal: Books

10:08 The Power of Narrative Transportation

19:27 The Value of Diverse Perspectives

20:56 Building a House of Personal Growth

22:08 A Balanced Approach to Content Consumption

24:13 The Danger of Overwhelming Amounts Information and Instructions

27:07 Conclusion: Cultivating Wisdom

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Modern technology amplifies our fear and emotions. FOMO is on the rise.

Whether you are worried about being invited to a party, checking social media, or finding it harder to make decisions.

FOMO is increasingly driving our emotions and actions. It is a deeply natural feeling built into us through hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. But it hasn't kept up with our incredible pace of technological change.

Part of the reason we have such a decline in mental health is we can compare ourselves to the perfect lives all around us in the digital world and feel we don't stack up.

This episode will help you understand what's really going on:

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Get in Touch

👋 Free Call - Schedule Link - https://cal.com/samwebster/mindset

📧 Email - GrowthMindsetPodcast (@) gmail,com

Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.

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🛜 Website - Grow

Chapters:

00:00 Psychology of FOMO

04:03 Evolutionary Roots of FOMO

08:15 Modern Technology and Social Media's Role in FOMO

10:18 Consumer Culture, Crypto and Parasocial Relationships

14:31 Psychological Costs & Impact on Mental Health

15:50 FOMO and Decision Making

17:17 The Rise of ADHD

18:54 Abundance vs. Scarcity Mindset

21:09 The Joy of Missing Out (JOMO)

21:36 Practical Tips to Overcome FOMO

25:17 Conclusion: Embracing the Present

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