PODCAST · education
Understanding Self
by J.P. Gaston
Understanding Self is a podcast about discovering the inner workings of... you! We'll dive into the psychology of what influences every aspect of who we are, and talk a little about how we can use that information to become a better version of ourselves every day. We'll take some of the top listener questions each week, and uncover who we really are. It'll be bite-sized, light and fun, and we'll throw a question for you to ponder about yourself!So join us on this crazy adventure into our own hearts and minds. After all, there is nobody better at understanding your self than you!
Episodes
-
Jan 30 - Have it your way: How we all perceive "choice" differently
Living where you live, and being brought up how you were - you have a certain perception of choice... but, not everybody shares that perception.
-
Jan 29 - Context is everything: How our experiences form chemical and contextual responses
Sometimes even the smallest event can change how we perceive something for the rest of our lives. Today, we talk a bit about that... this one is for (or, from) the birds!
-
Jan 28 - What's my age again? How aging changes our decision making processes
It's said that we make roughly 35,000 decisions a day... that's an awful lot of decision making. In the course of our lives we will make millions of decisions. How do our decision making processes and abilities change over time? Age, experience, context, and a near-endless stream of other factors...
-
Jan 27 - Solving It All: Our constant drive to find answers and how is shapes us
As humans, we're always looking for answers to life's questions... why am i here? Who am i? Where did i leave my keys? What do you want for dinner? Our brains are wired to find solutions, and to find them fast - but what's the cost? The path we take to find our solutions not only influences the...
-
Jan 26 - Looks matter: Overcoming appearance, attraction and your implicit beauty bias
It's a fact of life we can't escape - we all make snap judgements based on appearances. It's a part of who we are - both our own appearance and how we are influenced by the appearance of others. So let's explore that and find out what we can do to better understand our own implicit beauty (and...
-
Jan 25 - Organized Chaos: How organized, or disorganized, environments shape us
Ever wonder why some people are organized, and some are "all over the map" ? Organization can be a sign of conformity and level-headedness, but disorganization of your environment can also be a sign of some great (and useful) qualities.
-
Jan 24 - Stopping to smell the roses: The impact of a pause in addressing disappointment
Stopping to smell the roses - or taking a pause to reflect and appreciate what you have in your life - plays a big role in how we deal with disappointment in our lives. How we deal with disappointment can shape our mood, attitude, and response to engage with the world around us. So how does this...
-
Jan 23 - Creativity: Where does it come from, and how do we become more creative?
Creativity is often thought of as an inherent trait - something we're born with. Research shows that it's much more than that, and like much of who we are - is a direct functioning of our past and present environment. "Well," you ask, " how can I become more creative?" - Time to put on our…
more -
Jan 22 - A rose by any other name: How we're shaped by language
Language - the backdrop for all of our communication with the world, whether written, verbal, or otherwise, plays a significant role in shaping who we are; but how often do we actually think about the part it plays? Today we dig into some pretty interesting perspective on language, and share this...
-
Jan 21 - Daydream weaver - Shower thoughts and other ways to innovate
Daydreamining is a skillset that is often thought to be detrimental, but the wandering mind actually provides us many great benefits - psychologically, physically, and creatively. So, what do we know about it, and how can we get better at allowing daydreaming to be a part of our lives?
-
Jan 20: Laughing on the Inside: The role of humour in regulating who we are
Humour, and our ability to find it and exploit the advantages it brings to us, is a major factor in developing who we are. It plays a role in regulating our hormone levels, drives positive physicald and mental health benefits, and it helps us socially as well. So, let's explore more about that…
more -
Jan 19 - Great Expectations - How we set our future self up for success
Expectations play a huge part in how we perceive and interact with the world. They're informed by our past, and they set ourselves up for our future. Regardless of what goals or ambitions we might have, it can all be thrown off course by expectations that don't line up with the path that we're...
-
Jan 18 - Early Birds and Night Owls: Why we all sleep a little differently
There are some natural processes to sleeping, yet we all have our preferences of when and how we sleep. For some, it's getting up early that helps start their day. For others (like myself), the late evening productivity feels right. But really - which is best? We'll talk today a bit about how our...
-
Jan 17 - What's my name again?: How your name shapes your life
For most, we don't often think too deeply on our names and the role they play in our lives. Depending on your situation this may be a little different, but our name is often just thought to be a part of who we are - whether we like it or not. Yet, your name plays a pretty significant role in...
-
Jan 16 - Book 'em, Danno: The power of reading on our mental and physical health
Weekends can be a great time to escape, find a little downtime and kick back with a good book. Reading - and specifically reading physical books - can have a significant and lasting impact on our mental and physical wellness. It can also determine our path in life through influence on our...
-
Jan 15: What's in a (nick) name: the impact a moniker makes
Many of us have nicknames. Whether it's for ourselves or others, a form of endearment or a sarcastic quip, perhaps even a loving dig at a close friend or family member... or sometimes, an inappropriate or derogatory one. No matter the intent or background, nicknames and our perception of them...
-
Jan 14- The incredible power and critical role of storytelling in our lives
While the things we experience for ourselves are a critical part of shaping who we are, so too are the stories associated with our experience. Storytelling is a fundamental human trait, and is how we share about our lives, how we convey our experience and emotion, or how we tell ourselves about…
more -
Jan 13: Friends, with benefits: How friendships impact your mental and physical health
Friendships play a critical role in forming who we are. We learn about forming friendships from a young age, and those experiences shape who we connect with and how we interact. Our early friendships can shape a lot of our perspective and direction in life, and even today we rely on these...
-
Jan 12 - The science of food, and how it impacts our mental and physical health
In an extension of yesterday's episode on where our food preferences come from, today we'll get into more about the impacts food has on our mental health. We often consider the physical implications of a poor diet to our overall wellness - including our mood, focus, and perception of the world...
-
Jan 11: You eat what you are: How we learn to like food and what you can do about it.
They say you are what you eat... but is that true? How do our food preferences, and our food choices, impact our every day life. Today and tomorrow, we'll explore how our food preferences develop, can be altered, and what it does to our physical and mental well being. Nutrition is a far more...
-
Jan 10 - Won't you be... your neighbourhood
Where we live plays a significant role in who we become, and who we continue to be. As children, our neighbourhood helps set the foundation for our perspectives on life and the relationships we form - everything from our love of books to our social interactions are formed with our surroundings...
-
Jan 9 - The forming of our musical tastes
Today, we're going to explore where our musical tastes come from... or... really any of our tastes, though we'll talk specifically about music today and how we form our preferences.... and the benefits that can (and does) bring into our lives. This week, we're also building a spotify playlist of...
-
Jan 8 - Turn down your radio, you magnificent uni-tasker
We've all heard about the great benefits of multi-tasking, but is it true? It might be - just maybe not for humans. Today, we take a deeper look at ourselves by understanding what's happening when we turn down the radio to find an address or park our car. Why does this happen, and what does it…
more -
Jan 7 - Here's lookin' at me, me: The impact of self-reflection
Today we dig into a bit about self-reflection and take a look back at the week that was. The importance of taking some time to think back on your own self can't possibly be overstated, as it is in this action that we drive self-awareness and create the best opportunity for ourselves to grow. So,...
-
Jan 6 - The complexity of influence and marketing on self
In today's episode, we dive into thought on how we're influenced in our lives. We talk a bit about marketing, which is just one of many influences in our day to day that we'll get into over the course of this podcast. I share a couple of stories that might be a bit surprising, if not…
more -
Jan 5 - Creating intention with small goals for big gains
In a follow up to our very first episode about resolutions, today we talk a bit more in depth about the benefit of smaller, bite-sized goals and the big gains they can create over time. We'll talk about the compounding benefits that this process can create, as well as how it fits into the...
-
Jan 4 - Of two minds: how our brain makes decisions
The brain is a pretty incredible thing. Everything you have ever experienced in life, all of your biases, everything is stored up there in that compact space, and is recalled in a variety of ways to help inform your decision making processes. The two systems - the creatively named fast system and...
-
Jan 3 - Failure is an option.... and finding positive opportunities
We're all trying to figure out how to be successful, but along the way we're bound to experience failure. In fact, we're bound to experience far more failure than we are success - especially if we're taking risks. Some of the most successful individuals in life have experienced the most failures....
-
Jan 2 - Forming (and breaking) habits... for better or worse
Today, we expand on the Jan 1 episode about resolutions and focus in a bit more on habits. What makes us form them, how do we break them, and where do they show up in our lives. The answer to that last part is - everywhere. Our habits are a subconscious connection to who we are - a window to our...
-
Jan 1 - Resolutions
Every year, millions of North Americans set out resolutions to start anew in for the year ahead. But where did this come from, why do we do it, and why do SO many of us (self included!) fail at our resolutions. We'll get into a brief history, and talk a little about some tactics to achieve those...
-
Trailer - Understanding Self
This is the trailer for Understanding Self, a podcast about discovering the inner workings of... you! We'll dive into the psychology of what influences every aspect of who we are, and talk a little about how we can use that information to become a better version of ourselves every day. It'll be...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Understanding Self is a podcast about discovering the inner workings of... you! We'll dive into the psychology of what influences every aspect of who we are, and talk a little about how we can use that information to become a better version of ourselves every day. We'll take some of the top listener questions each week, and uncover who we really are. It'll be bite-sized, light and fun, and we'll throw a question for you to ponder about yourself!So join us on this crazy adventure into our own hearts and minds. After all, there is nobody better at understanding your self than you!
HOSTED BY
J.P. Gaston
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Understanding Self have?
Understanding Self currently has 31 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Understanding Self about?
Understanding Self is a podcast about discovering the inner workings of... you! We'll dive into the psychology of what influences every aspect of who we are, and talk a little about how we can use that information to become a better version of ourselves every day. We'll take some of the top...
How often does Understanding Self release new episodes?
Understanding Self has 31 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Understanding Self?
You can listen to Understanding Self on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Understanding Self?
Understanding Self is created and hosted by J.P. Gaston.
URL copied to clipboard!