Shows / PTT Music Podcast
PTT Music Podcast
Welcome to the PTT Music Podcast, where music is more than entertainment—it's a powerful force for inspiration, creativity, and positive influence. Hosted by Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks, each episode takes you behind the music to explore the stories, emotions, and creative journeys that shape every PTT Music release and how the songs impact thousands of lives. Through authentic conversations, thoughtful discussions, and meaningful storytelling, you'll discover how music can inspire…
Episodes
- PTT Music Podcast
The Psychology of Resilience: Explanatory Style and Olympic Comebacks
Positive behavior specialists Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks explore Dr. Martin Seligman’s landmark research on explanatory style, the three Ps of learned…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why We Love What We Build
This episode explores the IKEA effect—why we value things more when we build them ourselves—from cake mix and origami to unfinished creative work. The hosts…
- PTT Music Podcast
Name It to Tame It: How Science and Music Help You Reset
Hosts Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks are behavior specialists who pair practical, evidence based techniques with purposeful music to help you navigate stress…
- PTT Music Podcast
Pressure to Power: Reframing Stress with Sound
This episode explores how reframing stress as helpful energy can improve performance, drawing on research from Stanford psychologist Alia Crum and colleagues…
- PTT Music Podcast
Music With Purpose: Fuel Your Focus
This episode explores how purposeful music can support focus, motivation, and creative momentum. Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks draw on research from Harvard…
- PTT Music Podcast
How Intentional Music Builds Focus, Confidence, and Momentum
Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks explore how intentional music can fuel focus, confidence, and creative momentum in everyday life. Drawing on neuroscience…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Everyone Is Not Staring at You
This episode explores the spotlight effect and why we wildly overestimate how much other people notice our mistakes, flaws, and nerves. It also shows how…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why We Give Better Advice Than We Take
This episode explores why it’s often easier to give wise advice than to follow it, unpacking Solomon’s Paradox and the science of self-distancing. It also…
- PTT Music Podcast
Stop Waiting for Monday: Reset with Sound
This episode explores the psychology behind the Fresh Start Effect and why waiting for Monday, a new month, or another big milestone can drain momentum. It…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Second Place Hurts More Than Third
This episode explores why finishing second can feel worse than third, using a famous Olympic study to unpack counterfactual thinking and the psychology of…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Criticism Sticks and How to Shake It Off
This episode explores why criticism sticks harder than praise, unpacking the science of negativity bias and the five-to-one feedback ratio. The hosts share…
- PTT Music Podcast
Beat the Freeze: How Rhythm Breaks Hesitation
This episode explores how rhythmic audio can short-circuit overthinking, using research on Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation to explain why sound can prime the…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Disappointment Hurts and How to Pivot Fast
This episode explores why disappointment hits so hard, how childhood letdowns help build emotional resilience, and how words like should, always, and never can…
- PTT Music Podcast
The Spotlight Effect and the Barry Manilow Test
This episode explores why we imagine a much bigger, harsher audience than is actually there, using the classic Barry Manilow T-shirt study to explain the…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why You’re Not a Finished Product
This episode explores the End of History Illusion—the tendency to see ourselves as finished, even though we are constantly changing. It also shares a practical…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Mild Discomfort Keeps Us Stuck
This episode explores the region beta paradox—why people sometimes move on faster from major setbacks than from minor annoyances—and shows how mild discomfort…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why We Speed Up Near the Finish Line
We explore the goal gradient hypothesis—why people and even animals speed up as they near a reward—and how that same psychology shows up in coffee loyalty…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Your Focus Playlist Stops Working
This episode explores how music can shape focus through a flow-to-engagement-to-performance chain, drawing on research from a 428-participant study using…
- PTT Music Podcast
Become Your Own Rosenthal Effect
This episode explores the Rosenthal Effect and how expectations can measurably shape performance, from a classic classroom study to a personal story about…
- PTT Music Podcast
Use Your Name to Beat Anxiety Fast
This episode explores a simple research-backed technique for easing anxiety and improving performance under pressure: replacing first-person self-talk with…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Your Body Knows Before Your Brain
This episode explores Antonio Damasio’s somatic marker hypothesis, the Iowa Gambling Task, and how bodily signals can guide decisions before logic catches up…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Almost Hurts More Than Missing Out
We explore why almost can feel worse than missing out entirely, from Olympic medal psychology to the trap of counterfactual thinking. Then we share a simple…
- PTT Music Podcast
The Michelangelo Phenomenon: How Relationships Shape Who We Become
This episode explores the Michelangelo phenomenon—the idea that the people closest to us help reveal our best selves through encouragement, support, and…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why We Overestimate Failure
This episode explores affective forecasting and why we consistently overestimate how badly setbacks will affect us. Through research on impact bias and the…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Support Makes the Hill Feel Flatter: Walking With "On My Way" and "Got My Step"
Welcome to the PTT Music Podcast! Positive behavior specialists Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks explore how intentional sound and supportive connection…
- PTT Music Podcast
Mental Contrasting: Turning Daydreams Into Action
This episode explores why positive daydreaming can sometimes kill momentum, drawing on Dr. Gabriele Oettingen’s research on Fantasy Realization Theory and the…
- PTT Music Podcast
Reframe Stress in 30 Seconds
This episode explores the difference between expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal, drawing on research showing how changing your inner story can…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Small Mistakes Make You More Likeable
This episode explores the Pratfall Effect and why small mistakes can make high performers seem more relatable and trustworthy. The hosts also discuss…
- PTT Music Podcast
How 20 Seconds of Friction Shapes Your Habits
Explore how tiny amounts of friction can make or break daily habits, from practicing guitar to writing consistently and choosing books over the TV. Learn how…
- PTT Music Podcast
From Good Intentions to Automatic Action
This episode explores why good intentions so often fail and how implementation intentions can close the gap with clear if-then plans. It also shows how…
- PTT Music Podcast
When the How Kills the Why
This episode explores how big ambitions can stall when the focus shifts from purpose to logistical friction, drawing on Construal Level Theory to explain why…
- PTT Music Podcast
Self-Affirmation That Actually Calms Your Nerves
In this episode of the PTT Music Podcast, positive behavior experts Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks unpack the real psychological science behind…
- PTT Music Podcast
Build Confidence by Doing: Self-Efficacy, Nerves, and Music
Inspired by Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, this episode explores why confidence grows from small acts of action rather than waiting to feel ready. It…
- PTT Music Podcast
Willpower Isn’t a Battery: The 30-Second Reset
This episode explores the science behind ego depletion and why willpower may be shaped more by belief than by a fixed energy supply. It also shares a simple…
- PTT Music Podcast
Self-Compassion Beats Self-Criticism for Grit
This episode explores why harsh self-talk can undermine grit, drawing on research showing that self-compassion helps people recover from failure and stay…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Sharing Goals Can Kill Motivation
This episode explores why announcing goals can drain motivation, using Symbolic Self Completion Theory to explain the social validation trap. It also offers a…
- PTT Music Podcast
How Your Brain Remembers Pain and Why the Ending Matters
This episode explores Daniel Kahneman’s ice water experiment, the Peak End Rule, and why our memories of pain are shaped more by how an experience ends than by…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Anticipated Fear Feels Bigger Than Reality
This episode explores why our minds inflate future setbacks into huge emotional threats, using classic research on affective forecasting, impact bias, and…
- PTT Music Podcast
Peak End Engineering: Rewire Hard Work with a Better Finish
This episode explores how duration neglect and the Peak End Rule shape what we remember about effort, pain, and accomplishment. The hosts break down how to use…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Micro Wins Fuel Creative Momentum
This episode explores the Progress Principle—why small, meaningful steps fuel motivation more than big breakthroughs, and how micro wins shape our creative…
- PTT Music Podcast
Harnessing High Performance & Positive Behavior
In this episode of the PTT Music Podcast, Jordan Sterling and Ava Brooks explore high-performance behavioral psychology and the illusion of…
- PTT Music Podcast
Use an Audio Trigger to Beat Procrastination
This episode explores the psychology of implementation intentions and how if-then planning can reduce hesitation and boost goal attainment. The hosts break…
- PTT Music Podcast
When One Tiny Detail Hijacks Your Happiness
An exploration of the focusing illusion and how one tiny detail can distort our mood, from a missing coffee mug to an overanalyzed mix. The hosts also discuss…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Unfinished Tasks Keep Hijacking Your Brain
Explore the Zeigarnik effect and why unfinished tasks keep hijacking your attention, from a famous waiter study to modern-day mental overload. The episode also…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Hard Work Makes Us Love What We Build
This episode explores why effort makes things feel more valuable, from the instant cake mix paradox to the IKEA Effect and the psychology of ownership. It also…
- PTT Music Podcast
Turn Anxiety into Fuel with Music and Reappraisal
This episode explores how performance anxiety can be reinterpreted as useful physiological arousal instead of panic, drawing on research showing that cognitive…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Unfinished Tasks Drain Your Brain
Explore the Zeigarnik Effect and why unfinished tasks keep your brain in a state of cognitive tension, even after work is done. Then hear practical ways to…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Harsh Words Feel Like a Physical Hit
This episode explores why harsh criticism and rejection can feel physically painful, drawing on neuroscience and evolution to explain the brain’s threat…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Your Brain Gets Stuck — and How to Swerve Out
This episode explores perseveration—why the brain gets stuck repeating ineffective strategies under stress—and how cognitive flexibility breaks us out of those…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Support Makes the Brain Work Less
This episode explores how fatigue and social support shape our perception of challenges, from hills that seem steeper to threats that feel bigger when we’re…
- PTT Music Podcast
Willpower Isn’t a Battery: How to Build Momentum
This episode challenges the idea that willpower is a limited battery and explores research showing that fatigue can be shaped by mindset. It also shares a…
- PTT Music Podcast
Mental Contrasting: Turn Daydreams into Action
This episode explores why vivid daydreaming can drain motivation and how mental contrasting helps turn goals into action by linking desired outcomes to real…
- PTT Music Podcast
Posture, Confidence, and the 30-Second Reset
This episode explores how your posture can shape confidence, self-trust, and even how strongly your brain believes your own thoughts. It also shows how pairing…
- PTT Music Podcast
Beat Procrastination with the Audio Bundle Rule
This episode explores present bias—why our brains overvalue immediate comfort and undervalue long-term goals—and shows how temptation bundling can make hard…
- PTT Music Podcast
How Relationships Sculpt Your Ideal Self
This episode explores the Michelangelo phenomenon—how supportive relationships can help shape us toward our ideal selves. The hosts also share practical ways…
- PTT Music Podcast
Stop Blaming the Room: Build Real Agency
This episode explores how blaming the room, luck, or other people can quietly erode self-discipline and motivation. The hosts break down locus of control…
- PTT Music Podcast
Stop Waiting for Permission: The Galatea Effect
This episode explores the science behind the Pygmalion and Galatea effects, showing how external expectations shape performance and how self-belief can do the…
- PTT Music Podcast
Why Mild Annoyances Linger—and How to Break the Cycle
This episode explores why mild, lingering discomforts can outlast major setbacks, using the region beta paradox to explain why we often change only after a…
- PTT Music Podcast
Your Brain’s Spam Filter
This episode explores how the brain’s Reticular Activating System filters sensory overload, why the cocktail party effect makes your name cut through the…
- PTT Music Podcast
How Positive Emotions Undo Stress Fast
Explore how acute stress narrows thinking and triggers a full biological fight-or-flight response, and how positive emotions can help the body recover faster…