The Better Humans Project

Gregory Pfeiffer
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  • Self-Improvement

A series of Podcasts that look at practical aspects of how your can make a transformation in your life and become a better human. Episodes may include practical tips and worksheets. For more information email contact@thebetterhumansproject.com

  1. Oct 11

    Episode #48 - How Are You Thinking? The Power of Metacognition — Learning to Think About Your Thinking

    You spend a significant part of every day thinking. But when did you last stop to examine how you think? In this episode of The Better Humans Project, Greg Pfeiffer explores metacognition — the practice of thinking about your thinking. Not the content of your thoughts, but the process: the habits, patterns, assumptions, and biases that are quietly shaping every conclusion you draw. We cover the foundational psychology — Flavell's two components of metacognition, Kahneman's System 1 and 2 thinking, and Adrian Wells' Metacognitive Therapy, which shows that anxiety and depression are often maintained not by the content of distressing thoughts but by the beliefs we hold about those thoughts. We look at why metacognitive skill is a stronger predictor of learning outcomes than raw intelligence, and what it has to do with intellectual humility and fairer judgement of other people. We go into the three main obstacles to metacognition — the fluency illusion, the ego threat of self-examination, and the simple fact that most of us were never taught this skill — and five concrete practices for building it. And we bring it to life through practical, recognisable examples: the dismissal in a meeting that had more to do with relationship history than the idea itself; the worry that more thinking was making worse; the story about yourself you've been carrying as fact for years. Your weekly challenge: the seven-day Thinking Log. One significant thought per day, put through four honest questions. The free companion worksheet is in the episode notes. ───────────────────────────────────── ABOUT THE BETTER HUMANS PROJECT ───────────────────────────────────── The Better Humans Project is a podcast hosted by Greg Pfeiffer. Each episode draws on psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and lived human experience to explore the things that genuinely shape how we think, feel, relate, and grow. This isn't self-help for its own sake — it's serious, honest, and practical conversation about what it actually means to become a better version of yourself. Topics have included emotional intelligence, happiness, agency, tribalism, slow living, metacognition, and what makes a life worth living. Every episode comes with a free companion worksheet and a weekly challenge designed to move insight into action. 📩 Get in touch: contact@thebetterhumansproject.com

  2. Sep 20

    Episode #47 - Passenger or Driver? The Psychology of Agency - Taking the Wheel of Your Own Life

    Are you driving your life — or are you a passenger in it? In this episode of The Better Humans Project Podcast, Greg Pfeiffer explores agency: one of the most fundamental and most underexamined forces in human psychology. What it is, why it matters so profoundly, how much of it we actually have, and what happens when we have too little, or are seduced by the illusion of too much. We cover Albert Bandura's self-efficacy research and the four ways agency can be deliberately built. We look at Seligman's learned helplessness: how passivity is learned and what it takes to reverse it - and at Viktor Frankl's radical insight that even in Auschwitz, the agency of meaning-making could not be removed. We explore the dangers of hyper-agency, the illusion of control, and the moral hazard of agency narratives that ignore structural inequality. We ask whether some people can genuinely thrive with less agency and draw the crucial distinction between chosen surrender and imposed helplessness. We look at how agency fluctuates across a lifetime, what psychological hardiness looks like under pressure, and how the Stoic tradition - particularly Epictetus, who was born a slave - offers perhaps the deepest possible account of what it means to be truly free. Your weekly challenge: the five-day Agency Audit. One area. One action per day. And a reckoning with what you notice. The free companion worksheet is available by emailing contact@thebetterhumansproject.com The Better Humans Project Podcast — real conversations about becoming more human.

  3. Aug 16

    Episode #45 - Was it a Life Worth Living? Talking about measuring "success".

    What would make your life feel genuinely worthwhile — not impressive, not successful by someone else's measure, but truly worthwhile? It's one of the oldest questions a person can ask. And most of us are answering it with a scorecard we never consciously chose. In this episode of The Better Humans Project, Greg Pfeiffer takes that question seriously. We look at where our life yardsticks actually come from — family, culture, advertising, social media — and whether they have anything to do with what we genuinely value. We explore the psychological dangers of life assessment: the distortion of constant comparison, the particular cruelty of inaction regret, and the harm of issuing a final verdict on a story that isn't finished yet. We go into what social media — and LinkedIn in particular — has done to our sense of self-worth, drawing on research that shows passive scrolling makes us feel measurably worse about our own lives. And we explore five better measures to replace conventional 'success': Carol Ryff's six dimensions of psychological well-being, Winnicott's liberating concept of the good enough life, Bronnie Ware's deathbed regret research, Dan McAdams on narrative coherence, and Erikson's generativity — the question of what you gave and left, not just what you got and kept. Your weekly challenge: write the eulogy you actually want. Then ask how close you're living to it. The free companion worksheet is available by emailing contact@thebetterhumansproject.com The Better Humans Project — real conversations about becoming more human.

  4. Jul 19

    Episode #44 - Life in the Slow Lane. The benefits of slowing down your life.

    What if the most radical thing you could do for your wellbeing isn't another habit, another goal, or another optimisation — but simply slowing down? In this episode of The Better Humans Project, Greg Pfeiffer explores the art and science of living at a slower pace. We go into the psychology of why we're all rushing, what it's doing to our brains and bodies, and what genuine slowness can give us back. We cover the neuroscience of chronic urgency, the busyness-as-status trap, the warning signals of depletion, the physical and social benefits of a slower life, the Slow Food and Slow Living movements, and six practical ways to genuinely change your pace — right now and over the longer term. Your weekly challenge: The Slow Day Experiment. One day. Five elements. A completely different speed. Grab the free companion worksheet in the episode notes. The Better Humans Project — real conversations about becoming more human.

  5. Jun 21

    Episode #42 - The Pursuit of Happiness, Part 4 - The Personal and Individual Perspective

    We made it. The final chapter. Across this series we've explored happiness through the lens of psychology, spirituality, and biology. Today, in Part Four, we bring it all home — through the most important lens of all: you. Because no framework, no tradition, and no neuroscientist can tell you what happiness looks like for your specific, individual, irreplaceable life. That part is yours to discover. And that is exactly what today is about. Host Greg Pfeiffer explores your happiness story — the moments you've had it, lost it, and searched for it. The things that make you genuinely come alive. The happiness thieves that quietly steal your joy — comparison, perfectionism, unprocessed grief, misalignment, and disconnection. The courage that happiness sometimes requires. And the five-element Personal Happiness Blueprint that brings everything from this series together into something real, usable, and entirely your own. This is the episode that makes the whole series matter. 🎧 The final episode is out now. 📄 Free companion worksheet — the series culmination Blueprint worksheet — email contact@thebetterhumansproject.com Be curious. Stay humble. Keep growing.

  6. Jun 14

    Episode #41 - The Pursuit of Happiness, Part 3 - The Medical and Biological Perspective

    Your happiness has a chemistry. A biology. A physiology that is measurable, mappable — and to a significant degree, influenceable. In Part Three of The Pursuit of Happiness series, host Greg Pfeiffer takes us into the science of what is actually happening inside your body and brain when you feel joy, connection, purpose, and peace — and what happens when those systems go wrong. We explore the six key neurochemicals of happiness — dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins, GABA, and cortisol — and the extraordinary discovery that your gut produces 90 to 95 percent of your body's serotonin. We look honestly at what happens biologically when happiness breaks down — in depression, anxiety, trauma, and bipolar disorder. And we cover the full range of interventions available: from SSRIs and mood stabilisers to the extraordinary frontier of ketamine and psychedelic-assisted therapy, and the psychological treatments — CBT, MBCT, ACT, and EMDR — that address the mind as well as the brain. And then we come back to four things that every single one of us can do — right now — that the evidence shows are among the most powerful happiness interventions available to any human being on earth. Sleep. Move. Nourish. Connect. 🎧 Part Three is out now. The final episode, Part Four, coming soon. 📄 Free companion worksheet — email contact@thebetterhumansproject.com Be curious. Stay humble. Keep growing.

  7. Jun 7

    Episode #40 - The Pursuit of Happiness, Part 2 - The Religious and Spiritual Perspective

    What do the world's greatest wisdom traditions actually say about happiness? And what happens when ancient spiritual insight meets modern science? In Part Two of The Pursuit of Happiness series, host Greg Pfeiffer takes us on an extraordinary journey across six of the world's major spiritual and religious traditions — Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Taoism — exploring what each one says about what happiness is, why it matters, and how to find it. What emerges is both surprising and profound. Because despite their vast theological differences, every single tradition points in the same direction: genuine happiness is an inside job. It cannot be purchased, achieved, or acquired. It arises through gratitude, presence, love, service, and the willingness to transform — not accumulate. Whether you are deeply religious, quietly spiritual, philosophically curious, or genuinely uncertain about all of it — this episode has something for you. 🎧 Part Two is out now. Parts Three and Four coming soon. 📄 Free companion worksheet available — email contact@thebetterhumansproject.com Be curious. Stay humble. Keep growing.

  8. May 31

    Episode #39 - The Pursuit of Happiness, Part 1 - The Psychology of Happiness

    🎙️ The Pursuit of Happiness — Part One: The Psychology of Happiness | The Better Humans Project Podcast What is happiness, really? Not the Instagram version. Not the greeting card version. The real, complex, scientifically understood, philosophically rich, deeply human version. In Part One of our brand new four-part series, host Greg Pfeiffer begins an exploration that will take us through the psychology, spirituality, biology, and deeply personal dimensions of one of the most fundamental human pursuits that has ever existed. Today we start with the mind. What does psychology actually tell us about what happiness is — and what it isn't? Why do so many of our assumptions about happiness turn out to be wrong? And what does the research say about how to genuinely, sustainably build more of it in our lives? We explore the ancient Greek roots of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow, Martin Seligman's PERMA model of flourishing, and the fascinating science of why happiness is not just the reward for a life well lived — it is the foundation of one. We also tackle four of the most common happiness myths that might be quietly holding you back. This is a series worth listening to from the beginning. Because before you can pursue happiness effectively, you need to understand what you're actually chasing. 🎧 Part One is out now. Parts Two, Three, and Four coming soon. 📄 Free companion worksheet available — email contact@thebetterhumansproject.com Be curious. Stay humble. Keep growing.

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About

A series of Podcasts that look at practical aspects of how your can make a transformation in your life and become a better human. Episodes may include practical tips and worksheets. For more information email contact@thebetterhumansproject.com

Information

  • Creator
    Gregory Pfeiffer
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Better Humans Project