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

Growth Mindset Psychology: The Science of Self-Improvement · 2025-04-22

What if the person you think you are is an outdated idea?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.

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Growth Mindset Psychology:

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

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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
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Growth Mindset Psychology: The Science of Self-Improvement

There are a lot of opinions on how to master your mind, but then there’s PSYCHOLOGY.
We’re all stuck with the brain we’re born with, but we aren’t stuck with how we use it.

Learn science-backed answers to make the most of your mind and your life.

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Growth Mindset Psychology is the "self-help sceptic" podcast for the curious.
Whether you want to improve performance, navigate setbacks, or know who you are.
We find answers to the true science of self-improvement.
So put down the astrology chart and start working with your mind, instead of against it.
With over 8 million downloads and 60,000 monthly listeners, you’re invited to join.

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Instead of telling you what to think, we discuss how thinking works.
Armed with a stack of science journals, textbooks and a boatload of curiosity, we uncover the mechanics of the mind.
Why? >>> Success is personal!
You might want to make the most of your neurodiverse strengths, start a business, or simply find more reasons to smile.
Hone your ability for independent thinking and growth with mental models to pursue your definition of success.

HOST
I’m Sam Webster Harris, a lifelong learner with ADHD, a raging curiosity, and an obsession with finding answers to hard questions.
After launching several businesses, travelling the world and nearly dying a few times I concluded that science and Psychology are where it’s at.
What actually makes people happy? What’s the best way to treat a brain? How can I get more done?
Studying the answers we find that changing behaviours requires building mindsets, mental models, and a healthy relationship with failure.
I run the show to help listeners enjoy nutritious content that feeds their minds (and I needed a legitimate excuse to cover for my reading addiction).

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Previous guests include Olympians, Scientists, Billionaires, and Sam's Mum.
Past series:
— Psychology vs Stoicism
— Time Management for busy mortals
— Independence and knowing yourself
— Cognitive biases and rational thinking
— Psychology of connection
— Carol Dweck and the Multiverse of Mindsets

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