1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: One of the biggest reasons why change is so scary 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:05,320 Speaker 1: is that it can threaten our self identity. One way 3 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,240 Speaker 1: to have a more secure self identity is to anchor 4 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,039 Speaker 1: yourself not simply to what you do, but to why 5 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: you do that thing. 6 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 2: So, first of all, i want to say, I'm really 7 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 2: grateful to be here with my very, very dear friend, 8 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 2: doctor Maya Shanka. We've been friends for like maybe four 9 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 2: or five years now, and honestly, beyond her incredible resume, 10 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 2: incredible list of achievements, continued excellence in everything she does, 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 2: she's just truly one of the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful humans. 12 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,319 Speaker 2: And so the fact that you've all come out here 13 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 2: tonight to support her and hopefully get her book or 14 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 2: you've already got it. How many of you have already 15 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 2: got the book? Okay, all of you who didn't put 16 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 2: your hand up, I want you to get a book 17 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 2: by the end of this. Truly, I'm just so grateful 18 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 2: to be here. She is the kindest, most generous, sweet loving, 19 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 2: wonderful human being, and I'm so happy to be here 20 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 2: supporting you. So congratulations, mind, thank. 21 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 3: You so much. 22 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: Day is such an utter delight to be in conversation 23 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: with you about this topic, and I'm so grateful for 24 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: your friendship, So thank. 25 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 2: You, thank you. Well. This book that you wrote, the 26 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 2: Other Side of Change, I find it such a fascinating 27 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 2: topic and read because I feel like there's two types 28 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 2: of change. One is the change that you choose, and 29 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 2: the other is the change that chooses you. How many 30 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 2: of you like it when you decide to change? How 31 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 2: many of you like it when change chooses you? Yeah, 32 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 2: exactly right. That's like the worst, It's like the worst 33 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 2: feeling ever. It's like, what, like, why did this happen 34 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 2: right now? Like I you know, it's and that's like 35 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 2: a daily occurrence for anyone on planet Earth. Why did 36 00:01:59,080 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 2: this happen? 37 00:01:59,480 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: Now? 38 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 2: Why this happened to me? What's going on? When will 39 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 2: this change? When will this get better? Talk to me 40 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 2: about how change has drastically altered your life when you 41 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 2: least expected it. 42 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I should start by saying that the 43 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: reason I study change is because I'm super scared of 44 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: it and I'm really bad at it and I hate 45 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: the unexpected changes by and large that have come my 46 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: way in life. I am someone who loves having a 47 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: firm grip at the steering wheel, right. I like being 48 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: in control. I like feeling like I'm going to dictate 49 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: how my life turns out. It feels very comforting to 50 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: believe that the world is fair and that if you 51 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: do good, good things will be it will happen. If 52 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: you aren't good, bad things will happen. It's just a nice, 53 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: clean input output model. But of course we all know 54 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: that that is sadly not how the universe operates, and 55 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: that fills me with a lot of discomfort, right. The 56 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: uncertainty that fills change. And one of my favorite research 57 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: studies from cognitive science shows that we are more stressed 58 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: when we're told we have a fifty percent chance of 59 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: receiving an electric shock than when we're told we have 60 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: a one hundred percent chance of getting that shock. Yes, 61 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: one hundred percent, And I feel that viscerally. I'm like, 62 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: bring on the shocks, just don't make me have to 63 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:30,079 Speaker 1: deal with that anticipatory anxiety that makes my skin crawl. 64 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 1: I had a really formative experience with change when I 65 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: was a little kid. I was an aspiring concert violinist, 66 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: and I was studying at Juilliard at the time under 67 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: it'sak Perlman who is considered, you know, one of the 68 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: best violinists in the world. And I really thought in 69 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: that moment, you know, as a teenager, Okay, I think 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: I have what it takes. 71 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 3: I think I might be able to go pro. And 72 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 3: then I had my change of plans. 73 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: A sudden injury that I sustained while playing the violin 74 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: led was a career ending injury for me, and doctors 75 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: just told me, I'm really sorry, but your dream is over. 76 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: And that was my first kind of foray with this 77 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: horrible change thing that I've learned to, you know, over time, 78 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: I've learned to have a slightly more peaceful relationship with 79 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: but it was pretty tough as a fifteen year old 80 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: to lose a thing that at that point, Jay, I 81 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: had been doing for almost ten years. 82 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 2: How many of you have been rejected or failed in 83 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 2: that way? Anyone? Yeah, it's the worst hearing that news, 84 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,919 Speaker 2: but especially because of something that you're struggling with injury wise. 85 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 2: I mean, it's not even like you didn't make it, 86 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 2: or you went good enough, or you went smart enough. 87 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 2: It was something totally out of your control. To some degree, 88 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 2: when things happen that are out of our control, is 89 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 2: it even possible for the human mind to be able to tolerate, 90 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 2: accept and move through it smoothly. Like is that what impossible? 91 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 2: Is it possible? Is it made up? What's your take? 92 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: Jay, you're the monk. You need to tell us. Why 93 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: is he looking to me for answers. 94 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 2: I've taken off any kind I'm not monk anymore, but 95 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 2: I've taken off any sort of metaphorical ropes today to 96 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 2: be the interviewer for you. So I have no answers. 97 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 2: I'm I'm just humbly asking glad. 98 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's totally teasing, But that is to say, whatever 99 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: piece you found equanimity, you found a change. Just assume 100 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: I found about you know, one fraction. One's very small 101 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: fraction of that. It is a very hard thing for 102 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: us as humans to reckon with the true limits of 103 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: our control. But it also makes a lot of sense 104 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: why our brains lead us to believe we are in control. 105 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: Because if we didn't believe that we had a lot 106 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: of control over our lives, you can imagine that we 107 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: might descend into nihilism. Right, We might just think, what's 108 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: the point of anything? Why am I trying hard? Why 109 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: am I doing good? In the world, none of it 110 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: really seems to matter because that lightning bolt can just 111 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: strike me from above and it was all for not right. 112 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: And what's really interesting about the research is that it 113 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: shows people who have and this is called an internal 114 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: locus of control, so they really strongly feel like they're 115 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: dictating outcomes in their lives. They in general have higher 116 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: well being, greater happiness over time. The challenge, though, is 117 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: that when that proverbial anvil drops from the sky, it 118 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: shatters the illusion and it ends up being a very 119 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: tumultuous time. And in my own life, what I found 120 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: when I lost the violin was that there was something 121 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: so curious about my grief, which was that I didn't 122 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: feel like I was just losing the instrument. I felt 123 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: like I was losing a part of myself. Actually, I 124 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,119 Speaker 1: felt like I was losing all of myself. It felt 125 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: like Maya and the violin were inextricably attached, and in 126 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: taking it away from me, I no longer had as 127 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: much value. Right, it threatened my self worth. It's only 128 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: when you lose something that you realize how much it 129 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: meant to you in the first place. I'm sure many 130 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: of you can relate to this feeling, You're like, oh 131 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: my gosh, I didn't realize how much of my confidence 132 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: was coming from the violin, or you know, as a 133 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: kid who was bullied right as a little girl in 134 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: elementary school, I'm like, oh wow, violin was a big 135 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: part of my sense of social belonging. Right when I 136 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: was at music school, which was international. All the kids 137 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: accepted me. They didn't care about the color of my skin. 138 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: In losing it, I realized actually one of the and 139 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: I by the way, when I say I realized, I 140 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: mean this like it From my current vantage point as 141 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: a fifteen year old, I was just cranky, annoying to 142 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: my parents, like why can't I do this thing I love? 143 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: But in hindsight, I've now realized that one of the 144 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: biggest reasons why change is so scary is that it 145 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: can threaten our self identity. And I've learned that, and 146 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: I would urge all of you to engage in this 147 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,239 Speaker 1: thought experiment. One way to have a more secure self 148 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: identity is to anchor yourself not simply to what you do, 149 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: but to why you do that thing. So I asked myself, 150 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: what did I love about the violin? Well, it turns 151 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: out emotional connection was at the core of my love 152 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: of the instrument. And just because I lost the violin 153 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: didn't mean that I lost what led me to love 154 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: it in the first place. I could still find that 155 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: underlying feature in other places. I could still express that 156 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: part of myself through other channels. And it turns out 157 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: that subconsciously I've done that right as a podcaster hosting 158 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: a slight change of plans, writing the other side of change, 159 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: all of these pursuits have been about forging deep emotional 160 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 1: connections with people, like this is my bread and butter, 161 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,199 Speaker 1: like I love having this conversation right, like this is 162 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: what makes mya tick, is deep emotional attachment to people 163 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: and connection to people. 164 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 3: And so ask yourself, what is your why? Right? Maybe 165 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 3: it is service. Maybe it is caring for people. 166 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: Maybe it is getting better at something and proving at 167 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: a craft. Maybe it is having a creative outlet like 168 00:08:57,600 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: we were talking about backstage. 169 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 3: Whatever your why is, life can't take that away from you. 170 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: That's something that's going to be a firm anchor and 171 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: it can guide you towards your next steps. It can 172 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,199 Speaker 1: be a soft landing when life makes other plans for you. 173 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: And I've just felt so much more whole in the 174 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: transitions and in the inflection points in my life, knowing that, like, 175 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: my why is still there. 176 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that. I was about to ask you 177 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 2: how to do it, but I love that because I 178 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 2: think it's so natural for us to place our confidence 179 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 2: in who we're with, what we're doing, right, It's natural 180 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 2: to evaluate our value in the world based on. 181 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: I'm placing a little bit of my confidence hanging out 182 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: with Jay Shuddy tonight. 183 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 3: I'm sorry. I'm just going to say sorry, keep going. 184 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 2: But it's true, right, we base our value on all 185 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 2: of these external things exactly, and it's fine when it's 186 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 2: going good. And we were just talking about that, it's 187 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,079 Speaker 2: fine when it's going good the moment it doesn't work out. 188 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 2: I was just speaking, I'm thinking of something You've reminded 189 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 2: me of someone. And I was speaking to a lady 190 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 2: who I think it was like two weeks after her 191 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 2: fortieth birthday, and so I was wished her a happy 192 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 2: belated birthday, and she was a mutual friend of another friend, 193 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,320 Speaker 2: and she was telling me about it, and I was like, Oh, 194 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 2: tell me about your birthday, Like forty that's a big birthday, 195 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 2: Like what was the celebration, like, and she said, and 196 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 2: this is why I was reminded of it, based on 197 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 2: what mya just said, and why I think, you know, 198 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 2: her book is the book I'm going to be giving 199 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 2: to this lady. Straight after this conversation, she said to me, 200 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 2: she goes, Oh, my fortieth birthday was a disaster. I said, why. 201 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 2: She said, I lost my job two weeks before my 202 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 2: fortieth birthday. And I said that sounds terrible, and you know, 203 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 2: and she's and I was asking her about how she 204 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 2: lost it and whatever, and she goes, I thought I 205 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:54,440 Speaker 2: was about to be promoted, so she was, like, I 206 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 2: thought I was about to be promoted. I lost my job. 207 00:10:57,920 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 2: I had my fortieth birthday in two weeks where I 208 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 2: was so excited to announce my promotion and invite my 209 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 2: work colleagues and talk about this incredible twenty year career 210 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 2: that I'd had. And now I didn't have anything to 211 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 2: talk about. She goes, I didn't have anything to talk about. 212 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 2: I didn't feel like I'd achieved anything. Sure, I was 213 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 2: in a relationship and whatever, like all this stuff, but 214 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 2: like I didn't have something that made it feel like 215 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 2: my life was going in the right direction, and you're 216 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 2: spot on. And whether we do it with our families, 217 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 2: whether we do it through our children, whether we do 218 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 2: it through our bank balance, whatever we do it through, 219 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 2: we all find it through some external validation. And what 220 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 2: you're reminding us to do is saying, pullback and focus 221 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 2: on why you love that thing? Why, though, is it 222 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 2: so hard to do that in the moment. I mean, 223 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 2: you're a cognitive scientist, so tell us what is going 224 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 2: on in the brain when change is thrown onto you 225 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 2: and you're like, but I don't like it, Maya, I 226 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 2: don't want to think about why. I just wanted that promotion. Yeah, 227 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 2: I wanted that extra money. I wanted that validation and assurance. 228 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:05,079 Speaker 2: How do I do that well? 229 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 1: I actually think we're socialized to anchor our self worth 230 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: and our identities to the what, to the roles and 231 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: the labels that we carry. Think about the question we 232 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: ask little kids, what do you want to be when 233 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: you grow up? We don't ask who do you want 234 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: to be when you grow up? What are your passions? 235 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:22,079 Speaker 3: What do you love doing? 236 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: It turns out from research, actually looking back to your 237 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: childhood is one of the easiest ways to access your 238 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: why you want to find out when you were on 239 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: the playground, what were you gravitating towards? Were you like 240 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: going crazy on the monkey bars, or were you like me, 241 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: like listening to what everyone was saying and trying to 242 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: understand human psychology and social groups, and oh is this 243 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: person thinking this? Or is that you know that was 244 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: me on the player It's like, okay, of course she 245 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: was going to become a cognitive scientist. But that's actually 246 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: one of the best ways of figuring out what that 247 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: core passion is. And look, our self worth is called 248 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: contingent self esteem. That naturally we like to easily anchor 249 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: to something because it almost feels uncomfortable to just anchor 250 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: it to existence, which is what all of us should 251 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: do at the end of the day. By virtue of 252 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: just existing, we should be worthy. But as humans, we 253 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: are getting signals from everywhere that we need to justify 254 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: our existence, we need to justify our presence. And it's 255 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: so interesting because I think someone reached out to me, 256 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: this guy named Scott. He was a human rights lawyer, 257 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: Harvard trained, Rhodes scholar, super accomplished so many accolades. To 258 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: your point about getting that external validation, that was what 259 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: he was getting most of his life as he went 260 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: through his career trajectory, and then he got hit with 261 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: terrible long COVID, totally incapacitated, so he was suffering from 262 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: severe brain fog. He was unable to even read a 263 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: sentence of a book for the longest time. He was 264 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: experiencing nausea, terrible, terrible symptoms, and so bad that he 265 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: had to take permanent leave from his work as a 266 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: human rights lawyer. He listened to my ted talk and 267 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: I had talked about this what versus why distinction, and 268 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 1: I heard from him. He couldn't type, so he sent 269 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: me a voice memo. I remember, and I was listening 270 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 1: to my phone. He said, I asked myself what my 271 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 1: why was, and it was advocating for underrepresented people, people 272 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: who don't have a voice. And so then I asked myself, 273 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: with my newly constrained life that I live, how can 274 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: I still express that why? And he realized he still 275 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: could by advocating for the long hauler community. 276 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 2: Wow. 277 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: And so now he devotes all of the hours of 278 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: his day where he feels cognitively capable to advocating for 279 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: various legislation, talking to drug manufacturers, giving a voice to 280 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: all these humans whose lives had been upturned by long COVID, 281 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: who otherwise wouldn't feel represented. And I think that is 282 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: such a beautiful illustration of my hope with this insight. 283 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 2: Mm hmm. I love that. How many of you are 284 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 2: going to start trying that out to today, right, And 285 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 2: we've got to give it a go. We've got to 286 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 2: give it a go, you know. I always I feel 287 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 2: like there's so much good advice out there now, and 288 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 2: it's like Maya's book is packed with these incredible insights, 289 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 2: and I'm like, the biggest mistake we can make is, God, 290 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 2: that's a really cool idea, and then it just goes 291 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 2: over our head. It's like that ability to stop and 292 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 2: pause and say wow, Like Maya's just repeated this idea 293 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 2: like three times because of how powerful it is and 294 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 2: given us multiple examples, whether it's a real life story, 295 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 2: whether it's cognitive neuroscience, whether it's looking at it from 296 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 2: a practical point of view, and it makes sense. And 297 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 2: so I encourage each and every one of you when 298 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 2: you walk out of here, try and try and apply 299 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 2: it to a real life situation. I was also reflecting 300 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 2: that when I think about all the people I look 301 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 2: up to, Yeah, they all reacted incredibly well to bad circumstances. 302 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 2: So anyone that I admire or am inspired by. And 303 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 2: this could be a family member, it could be a 304 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 2: public figure, it could be anyone in your life. Right, 305 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 2: it doesn't have to be someone well known. Anyone that 306 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 2: I look up to had something horrific happened to them 307 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 2: and they somehow turned it into the best thing that 308 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 2: ever happened to them. Yeah, And when you study people's 309 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 2: lives closely, and I'm sure people have that in their families. 310 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 2: I'm sure if you think about your parents and aunts 311 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 2: and uncles, or you think about ancestors who just did 312 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 2: incredible things that we don't even know how they lived 313 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 2: through times like that, it doesn't what's the difference between 314 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 2: someone who has something bad happened to them and transforms 315 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 2: it into a superpower, yeah, and someone who has something 316 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 2: bad happened to them and doesn't have that ability, Like, 317 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 2: what's the difference, Because I think we all feel both 318 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 2: of those things. I've had terrible things happened to me, 319 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 2: and there have been times where I'm like, all right, 320 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 2: time to throw in the towel. It's all over. Forget 321 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 2: about it, and then there's times when tough stuff happens 322 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 2: and I'm able to what's the difference? 323 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I have really good news for you, because 324 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 1: as someone who started off being very bad at responding 325 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: to these negative events and who I think has made 326 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: incredible progress, this is a malleable trait in us, and 327 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: I think the difference is in perspective. So I'll say 328 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: a couple things. The first is, we have this funny 329 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 1: little trick our brains play on us when it comes 330 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: to how we think about who will be moving forward. 331 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: So it's called the end of history illusion, and basically 332 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: what it says is, while we fully acknowledge that we've 333 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 1: changed considerably in the past. So if you were to 334 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: show me pictures of violinists like eight year old violinist Maya, teenager, 335 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 1: oh gosh, cringe, teenager Maya college, we have this Yeah, actually, 336 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: right now I thought we were friends, Jane, and then 337 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: you know, twenty something, I'll say, I would say, oh 338 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 1: my gosh, I am so different from that person. Do 339 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: not even show me, like, I'm going to try to 340 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,160 Speaker 1: create as much emotional distance as I can between you know, current. 341 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 3: And past Maya. 342 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: But then Funnily enough, if you were to ask me, well, 343 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: how much you plan on changing moving forward. 344 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 3: I'll be like, nope, finished product. What you see is 345 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 3: what you get. 346 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 2: This is it. 347 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,719 Speaker 1: And researchers have said that we falsely believe that the 348 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: present is this watershed moment in which we become the 349 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,399 Speaker 1: person we will be for the rest of our lives. 350 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: And again, it is just this funny little quirk in 351 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:27,399 Speaker 1: the way that our brains have evolved. And the reason 352 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: that this is relevant to change is that we become 353 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: different people on the other side of change. The titles 354 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: not an accident, the other side of change. When a 355 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,920 Speaker 1: big change happens to us, it also leads to lasting 356 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:47,239 Speaker 1: change within us. And these big seismic anvil falling from 357 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: the sky moments they accelerate those internal transformations. We come 358 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: out the other side with new values and new perspectives 359 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 1: and new capabilities, new ways of seeing the world around 360 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,919 Speaker 1: us and ourselves or maybe our fan or maybe our 361 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 1: family history, or maybe the shame we felt about some 362 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: part of our childhood. Whatever it is, it is possible 363 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: for us to emerge a new person. And so the 364 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: difference that I've come to see even in myself is 365 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: now when I'm feeling daunted at the outset of a 366 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: change and my old reflexes kick in and I think, oh, 367 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: I can't possibly handle what's up ahead. I'm not strong enough, 368 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: I don't have the right resources around me, I don't 369 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,880 Speaker 1: have the right vantage point, I don't. 370 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 3: Have the right values. Whatever it is. 371 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,959 Speaker 1: I now think the Maya that's actually going to have 372 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 1: to engage with every part of this process is actually 373 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 1: going to be different from the person she is today, 374 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,639 Speaker 1: And that is so empowering. Like when you're feeling daunted 375 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: at the outset of change, just know, and I know 376 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:50,479 Speaker 1: people in this room who have undergone incredible transformations as 377 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: a result of the changes they went through, they would 378 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,760 Speaker 1: never have been able to predict who they would have become. 379 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: And we know also from research, we are bad affective forecasters, 380 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,399 Speaker 1: really bad at predicting how we will think and feel 381 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: about events in the future. And so that I think 382 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,360 Speaker 1: is the sole trait that people have who are really resilient. 383 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,200 Speaker 1: They understand that they too are changing as a result 384 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: of their circumstances, and they are introspective throughout. They think, Okay, 385 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: I'm noticing this change has revealed to me that I 386 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: have a certain value or belief. 387 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 3: Is this holding me back? Is it problematic? 388 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: Maybe this change is giving me a rare opportunity to 389 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 1: revisit that belief. I shouldn't hold it as sacred, I 390 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: should interrogate it. And so it's been uplifting. And I, 391 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: even in writing the book, saw this transformation within me 392 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: as I was undergoing an unexpected change in my personal 393 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 1: life that I write about in the final chapter. And 394 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,160 Speaker 1: so I fully believe it now, you know, having seen 395 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:47,159 Speaker 1: it happen within myself. 396 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:49,159 Speaker 2: Yeah, and you were telling me that just before you 397 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 2: walked on. And not to get into details, but you're 398 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 2: telling me that you've literally been reading your own book. 399 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, during new change that's happening. 400 00:20:57,560 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 3: While not because I'm a narcissist, but. 401 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I see how that came out now. 402 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 3: And then I listened to my podcast. I'm just kidding. 403 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: I'll tell you why I was reading my book. The 404 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,879 Speaker 1: last month of my life was awful. There were unexpected 405 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: challenges in my family when it came to health. And 406 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: just one example, I don't want to get too emotional, 407 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: is that my beloved aunt, her stage four cancer return 408 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 1: for a third time. Which is just very sad, right, 409 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 1: I don't know what's going to happen, and I love 410 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: her dearly. And as a person who had been writing 411 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: this book about Unexpected change for three and a half years, 412 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,200 Speaker 1: I think I was engaging in magical thinking. 413 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 3: Jay. 414 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: I was like, all right, I did the change thing, 415 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: like I had the formative experience in childhood. And as 416 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: I was writing the book, I was struggling to start 417 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: a family with my husband. That was my second big change, 418 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: and like just going to wipe my hands clean, change over, 419 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: you know, And then change was thrown my way and 420 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: it was so hard and so destabilizing, and I just 421 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: remember thinking, in that moment, you have gained so much 422 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: wisdom from the people who invited you into their lives. 423 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 1: For years, for this book, I interviewed people on repeated 424 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: occasions over multiple years, just to understand so deeply their 425 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: psyche and their life story. And I was like, what 426 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: a shame it would be if you do not benefit 427 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 1: from that wisdom in this moment, if you don't use 428 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:32,920 Speaker 1: those same science based strategies you're telling everyone else to use. 429 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 1: I didn't want to just talk the talk. I wanted 430 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: to walk the walk, and so I still remember this 431 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: one night. I was sitting in my living room and 432 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 1: my husband, Jimmy, and I were just spiraling. We were 433 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: doing the thing everyone does in the face of uncertain change. 434 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: We were starting to catastrophize. Our anxiety was rising and 435 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 1: we could feel it in our bodies. Our hearts were racing, 436 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: and everything was looking negative. And I remember I pulled 437 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: out there's one chapter of the book I devote entirely 438 00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: to rumination. 439 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 3: Separate note. I have a PhD in rumination. 440 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: Not an academic not an academic version, but the lived version. 441 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: I am very skilled in waking up in the middle 442 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: of the night and thinking about things, you know, till 443 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,679 Speaker 1: they drive me crazy. And I just remember reading some 444 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: of these words that I'd written because they hit me 445 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: even more in that moment when I feel I needed 446 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 1: them most. And I was able to actually effectively use 447 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:25,680 Speaker 1: these strategies and they help me in a time of need. 448 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 3: And I it was such a trying time. 449 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: I was like, how am I going to get the 450 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,679 Speaker 1: energy to get to like do this book tour. But 451 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: I turned the ship around, folks, I did, and I'm 452 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: here with you right now, and I'm so full of joy, 453 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: and I think one of the reasons why you're seeing, oh, 454 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 1: I'm so sweet. One of the reasons I was talking 455 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 1: about this with Jay beforehand, that you are seeing me 456 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: filled with so much joy is that one first of 457 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: all health stuff just puts everything into perspective. It just 458 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: right sizes every small or big problem that you're sorry, 459 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: let me just let me say it. Really getting emotional 460 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 1: health challenges put everything into perspective immediately, And so I 461 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: instantly had clarity about what this book tour was all about, 462 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: and it was that I had written a book for 463 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 1: people who are struggling with exactly what I was struggling 464 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,639 Speaker 1: with for the last three weeks. And it renewed my 465 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: faith in the importance of storytelling, in the importance of 466 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: distilling science and ways that are easy for people to understand, 467 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: and for just connecting with my fellow human beings. And 468 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: there's been so much healing that's happened, even in just 469 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 1: this past week, meeting people from all over the country. 470 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: Right a woman came up to me and said, you know, 471 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 1: she looked to be about in her late thirties. She 472 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's, so she was dealing 473 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,400 Speaker 1: with that and another person had been in a terrible 474 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: car crash and she was dealing with the repercussions of that, 475 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,439 Speaker 1: and it's just it's just really touched my heart to 476 00:24:53,480 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: be in conversation with people going through this stuff. 477 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 2: So beautiful as I'm listening to you, and I'm so 478 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,159 Speaker 2: glad that you did share that. I didn't know if 479 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 2: you were going to, but I'm glad you did because 480 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 2: I don't think there's any better test of doing the 481 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 2: work than doing it when it's happening right now. Yeah, 482 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 2: And for those of us that share insight, or share research, 483 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 2: or give advice or help people through things, it's only 484 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,440 Speaker 2: when you're going through that exact same thing yourself that 485 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,919 Speaker 2: the advice either stands true it doesn't. 486 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 1: I'm so glad you said that, because I want to 487 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,120 Speaker 1: share an example of a time when I didn't want 488 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,159 Speaker 1: to do the work and I ended up doing it 489 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: and it really paid off. 490 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 3: Okay, So long story short. 491 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: For years and years and years, my husband and I 492 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: were on this journey to start a family, and we 493 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: experienced so many obstacles and disappointments and heartbreaks over the years, 494 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,640 Speaker 1: and a miscarriage with our surrogate and about a year 495 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,880 Speaker 1: and a half later, we were just over the moon 496 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: because we found out that we were going to be 497 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: having identical twin girls. We were we were just so happy, like, 498 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: oh my gosh, how amazing that this has now happened. 499 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,640 Speaker 1: It's like a blessing given the first pregnancy loss. And 500 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: we saw two healthy, beating hearts. And then five hours 501 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: later we found out that our surrogate had miscarried again. 502 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 3: And it was. 503 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,000 Speaker 1: To go from such a high high to such a 504 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: low low within just a couple hours was so jarring 505 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: for my nervous system. I was like, I remember telling 506 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: my husband Jimmy, I'm like, we need to leave our apartment, 507 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: Like I just need to get fresh air. I don't 508 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: know how to tolerate sort of the emotional complexity of 509 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,679 Speaker 1: this moment and all that I was grieving. You know. 510 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: We talked about identity loss right. Being a mom was 511 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 1: one of the earliest identities that I ever aspired to have, 512 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: and society always told me that in order to be 513 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: a full person, I needed to have kids, and for 514 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: that reason, I felt like it was a massive threat 515 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 1: to hear about this this loss, and I remember getting 516 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: into bed early that night, putting the covers over me 517 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 1: and just feeling really really sad, and my husband Jimmy 518 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: comes in. 519 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 3: Bless him. 520 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,920 Speaker 1: He goes may ma's his pet name for me, Let's 521 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: name five things were really grateful for. And I'm like, oh, 522 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 1: hell no, bro, you take your Instagram bs, you go 523 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: into the corner and your toxic positivity. There is no 524 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: space for that in our bedroom right now. And I 525 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: was so ticked off. JA. 526 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,200 Speaker 3: I was like, I'm not doing this. This is so annoying. 527 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:37,120 Speaker 1: But there was something so sweet and innocent about Jimmy's request, 528 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,680 Speaker 1: and I also thought, Okay, also, if I do this, 529 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:40,880 Speaker 1: maybe I'll just get him off my back. 530 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 3: Let me just do this thing now. 531 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 1: Mind you, Jimmy's a software engineer, so what he did 532 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: not know is that he was engaging me in that 533 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 1: moment in what's called a self affirmation exercise. Really fun 534 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: to be married to a cognitive scientist. Let me tell you. 535 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: A self affirmation exercise is when you articulate all the 536 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: things that bring your life value and meaning that are 537 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: not being threatened by the change you're going through. So 538 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: if you're in a tough spot in your relationship, you 539 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: might focus on your spiritual life. If you're having a 540 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 1: rough go of it at work, you might focus on 541 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: how meaningful your community is to you. What the affirmation 542 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: exercise does is that it contextualizes what you're going through, 543 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 1: and it actually reduces things like denial because when you 544 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: feel like when you don't feel like your whole identity 545 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: is under threat from this change, you can embrace the 546 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: news more easily and actually start to cope with it. 547 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: It also leads to greater resilience, less anxiety. There's all 548 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: sorts of wellbeing outcomes associated with a self affirmation exercise. 549 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: So anyway, Jimmy comes in and he asked me to 550 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: do this thing, and I'm like stubbornly like okay, fine, 551 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: and you know, the first item on my list, I 552 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: was like, okay, well, I'm really grateful for. 553 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 3: You, you know, like. 554 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: You know, hear the love of my life and you're 555 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: so wonderful. But then this list just flowed out of me. 556 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 1: I'm so grateful to be an aunt to my six 557 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: nieces and nephews. What a joy that I get to 558 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: go into the closet of our apartment and talk to 559 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 1: people all over the world about their incredible stories of change. 560 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: Like never in my it was not on my Bingo 561 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: card that I that this was ever going to get 562 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: to be my life, that I got to interview people 563 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 1: and be interviewed by people where you have such incredibly 564 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 1: edifying conversations. I love my workouts with my Zoom trainer, 565 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: Like we talk about the Bachelor and love is Blind 566 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: and it's just so much fun to gossip about all 567 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 1: this stuff and it feeds a different part of my soul. 568 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: I always say, celebrity gossip is my love language. And 569 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: then I'm like, and I'm grateful for the California son, 570 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:40,920 Speaker 1: and it just it was like effortless. It just started 571 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: to flow out at me, and I swear to God, 572 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: something magical happened in that moment. I had been so 573 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: single mindedly focused on achieving this goal of mine, and 574 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of you can relate to this. 575 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: We set our minds on something and we developed tunnel vision. 576 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: We're like, until I get this outcome, like nothing can 577 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: rest That I had lost perspective on how otherwise rich 578 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 1: and multi dimensional my life was. I had forgotten that, yes, 579 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: I was in pursuit of motherhood, but there was still 580 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: so much else that defined me. There was still so 581 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: much that made me a valuable human and were sources 582 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: of joy in my life, and there was so much 583 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: to be grateful for. And so did I go to 584 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: bed over joyed that night, of course not. But did 585 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: I go to bed feeling more whole, Yes, I did. 586 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 1: And I'm so grateful that I forced myself in that 587 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: moment to do the uncomfortable thing because it really helped 588 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: me in the longer term. And Jimmy slept on the couch, 589 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,160 Speaker 1: yeah exactly, yeah, and then we hired the divorce lawyers. 590 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 2: That good old Jimmy. That's good for Jay now, even 591 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 2: for Jimmy to have the like courage to even say 592 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 2: that to you in that moment, I was like, oh God, 593 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:17,719 Speaker 2: I was a scared boy. I feel like I just 594 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 2: learned this yesterday. And so if I sound if you 595 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 2: hear this, then you go, yeah, I've heard that a 596 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 2: million times, then I'm glad you learned it quicker than 597 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 2: I did. I literally learned this like two weeks ago. 598 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 2: I was in India, back at the monastery that I 599 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 2: used to live at, and I was sharing something I 600 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 2: thought i'd learned with my teacher. And he has this 601 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 2: really remarkable way of teaching me back without making me 602 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 2: feel like I'm stupid, but it's kind of like, yeah, 603 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,920 Speaker 2: you're stupid, Like you got that wrong, and you've You've 604 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 2: just given me the science to back up what he 605 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 2: was saying to me. So up until like two weeks ago, 606 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,719 Speaker 2: I thought you had to somehow figure out how to 607 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 2: be grateful for what happened to you. We always hear 608 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 2: that be grateful for what happened. You know, the curse 609 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 2: becomes a gift and the nightmare becomes the dream, and 610 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 2: you know, like be grateful for what happened to you. 611 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 2: And I've always felt that you just had to somehow 612 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 2: figure that out through like raw tolerance, beating your head over, 613 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 2: you know, whatever it took, Like you just had to 614 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 2: figure our way, and if you were deep enough and 615 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 2: if you were profound enough, then one day you could 616 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,840 Speaker 2: be grateful for like terrible things happening to you. And 617 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 2: I felt like that's what it meant to have, like 618 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 2: you know, God's childlike level forgiveness and level of acceptance. 619 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 2: And he just said this to me, He goes I 620 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:37,400 Speaker 2: was saying that to him. I was like, yeah, I 621 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,160 Speaker 2: really believe that, you know, one day I'll be really 622 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 2: grateful for this, and I'll be grateful for what happened 623 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 2: to me. And he said, he said, you don't have 624 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 2: to be grateful for what happens to you. You have 625 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 2: to be grateful for what you have after what happens 626 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 2: to you. And it was just this subtle, tiny change 627 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 2: that completely freed me of this pressure that I'd put 628 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 2: myself under. Is if you had to be grateful, yeah, 629 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 2: for not being able to have children, or you have 630 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 2: to be grateful for having an injury when you wanted 631 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 2: to be a violinist as a kid, It's like, no, 632 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 2: you don't have to be grateful for that that you could. 633 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,360 Speaker 2: You could pretend to maybe for a day, but you know, 634 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,240 Speaker 2: you've just freed us as well by giving us the 635 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 2: science mind. And that's why I love your work so much, 636 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 2: because you have this profound ability to take wisdom, have 637 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 2: the signs to back it up, the resets to back 638 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,040 Speaker 2: it up, and then make it sound so simple, even 639 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,000 Speaker 2: though you're so much smarter than all of us, but 640 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 2: you know, make it sound and that's what you do 641 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 2: so brilliantly in this book. It's like we're like wow, 642 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 2: like you're actually speaking to us and speaking to our 643 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 2: hearts and speaking our language. Uh. And I guess you 644 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 2: had all this time to practice on software engineer Jimmy, 645 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 2: so you know you've had a gain. 646 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 3: Oh god, No, yeah, just a follow on to what 647 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:50,840 Speaker 3: you said. I think that's so spot on. 648 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: And the people that I interviewed for the other side 649 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,400 Speaker 1: of change, by and large, aren't happy that they had 650 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 1: to go through what they went through. They would not 651 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 1: will their changes over again. Who would Who would invite 652 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 1: illness into their lives and a heartbreak and loss? I mean, 653 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: that would be kind of strange. But they are extremely grateful, 654 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: all of them, for the person they became as a 655 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,439 Speaker 1: result of the change they went through. And I feel 656 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:21,399 Speaker 1: like that's perfectly echoed by this teacher of yours. They 657 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 1: feel like they emerged with renewed confidence, a renewed relationship 658 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,280 Speaker 1: with their family, a new sense of what was important, 659 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 1: a new perspective on their self worth and where to 660 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,239 Speaker 1: actually anchor it, A new way of seeing attachment and 661 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,399 Speaker 1: their closest relationships. 662 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:41,279 Speaker 3: That's the part they're grateful for. 663 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:46,960 Speaker 1: And I love the honesty of that because I often say, like, 664 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: I'm allergic to two things, soy and platitudes. I'm always 665 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: skeptical when people talk about silver linings and whatnot, and like, really. 666 00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:58,319 Speaker 3: Are you sure? 667 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,560 Speaker 1: Is that just something you tell yourself because it makes 668 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 1: you feel better. Where's the science to back it up? 669 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:02,719 Speaker 3: You know? 670 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,000 Speaker 1: And so it's so interesting because I was seeing I 671 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 1: wanted to write it. By the way, writing the Other 672 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:10,400 Speaker 1: Side of Change pretty agnostic as to what I would find. 673 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,560 Speaker 1: I identified people from all over the world that I 674 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 1: just found fascinating, and I interviewed them for a bunch 675 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:19,279 Speaker 1: of years, and I didn't know their what lessons I 676 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: would learn. I didn't know what their stories would reveal, 677 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,839 Speaker 1: which was an incredibly delightful process of exploration. By the way, 678 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: it was like me, like Maya the cognitive scientist in 679 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: a candy shop. 680 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:29,640 Speaker 2: Literally. 681 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: I started to see this incredibly hopeful message emerge about change, right, 682 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: which is that people were grateful for the internal transformation 683 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: they went through. And I really felt this deeply, And 684 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 1: I was alluding to this before when I was writing 685 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:49,799 Speaker 1: the final chapter of the book unexpectedly about my own 686 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,080 Speaker 1: experience on this parent or trying to be a parent journey, 687 00:35:53,520 --> 00:36:01,319 Speaker 1: and I realized something really important. So I had very 688 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:06,480 Speaker 1: slowly and very subconsciously been on my own internal evolution 689 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:10,360 Speaker 1: and transformation on this topic. If you had asked me 690 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: on that night, when Jimmy asked me that incredibly annoying question, 691 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: is anything good ever going to come of this? I 692 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 1: would have said no. Will you ever feel whole as 693 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 1: a person if you don't have kids, Oh definitely not. 694 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: Will your life have enough color without kids? 695 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:25,919 Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh. 696 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,520 Speaker 1: Absolutely all of those questions I would have said no to. 697 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:33,400 Speaker 1: And yet here I am three years out and I 698 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 1: am child free today, and you are seeing the happiest, 699 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:43,719 Speaker 1: most joyful, most curious, most hopeful version of Maya that 700 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,360 Speaker 1: has ever existed. And I could never have seen that coming. 701 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:54,359 Speaker 1: Because I thank you my dream was cut short, you know, 702 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,160 Speaker 1: and you don't always anticipate that when a dream is 703 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,359 Speaker 1: cut short, you'll still be grateful for what hapen. And 704 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: on the other side, exactly to your point, and so 705 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:09,239 Speaker 1: witnessing that within me was very moving and very wildly unexpected, 706 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: I realized, by the way. So one of the chapters 707 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:13,439 Speaker 1: in the Other Side of Change is about a woman 708 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:17,600 Speaker 1: who has to revisit her relationship with her family history. 709 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 1: It actually comes about through about of amnesia. It's like 710 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,320 Speaker 1: one of the most fascinating tales I've come across, And 711 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 1: the idea of that chapter is it shows change can 712 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:29,880 Speaker 1: actually serve as an important moment of revelation for all 713 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:34,360 Speaker 1: of us. So when a really negative thing happens in 714 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,120 Speaker 1: our lives, we can often think of it as a 715 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,799 Speaker 1: personal apocalypse of sorts. The world that we once knew 716 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:42,319 Speaker 1: that was so familiar and so comforting to us, so 717 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: comfortable as well, is no longer available. And interestingly, the 718 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:52,360 Speaker 1: word apocalypse comes from the Greek word apocalypsis, which means revelation, 719 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:56,919 Speaker 1: And so the etymology is really instructive. Change can abend us, yes, 720 00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,879 Speaker 1: but it can also reveal things to us. And as 721 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 1: I was going on this journey of figuring out my 722 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:08,040 Speaker 1: own relationship with motherhood and parenthood, I realized I did 723 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:11,719 Speaker 1: have quite antiquated views that were fed to me, maybe 724 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:16,200 Speaker 1: through my Indian American upbringing, right through cultural forces, through 725 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:19,720 Speaker 1: pop culture, through society, through the very special stigma reserved 726 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:24,120 Speaker 1: for child free women that a woman's value was something 727 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:27,160 Speaker 1: that was firmly attached to whether she had kids, whether 728 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:28,839 Speaker 1: she has kids. I mean, it's a stigma that still 729 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:32,200 Speaker 1: very much exists today, and part of my process because 730 00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:34,840 Speaker 1: I talk in the book about how we cannot view 731 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 1: our beliefs and ideas as these sacred, immutable truths that 732 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:41,839 Speaker 1: ought to never be examined. Most of our beliefs, most 733 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,520 Speaker 1: of the ideas we have about the world were inherited subconsciously, 734 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: they were through They were in our childhood from caregivers, 735 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:52,680 Speaker 1: and we had so much of our love wrapped up 736 00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:55,319 Speaker 1: in that caregiver that to challenge them, to question them 737 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,879 Speaker 1: would have been quite dangerous, emotionally dangerous for us. 738 00:38:58,320 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 3: Or we learned them from a. 739 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:03,000 Speaker 1: Teacher that we so greatly admired, and because we were 740 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:04,719 Speaker 1: more of a black and white thinker, we couldn't see 741 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:06,560 Speaker 1: that there might be nuance. Or we learned it from 742 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,320 Speaker 1: watching TV, or we learned it through who becomes famous 743 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,520 Speaker 1: or not famous, And all of those ideas are worth 744 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:16,560 Speaker 1: unwinding and unpacking, and change can give us this powerful 745 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,760 Speaker 1: moment where we take a step back and think, wow, 746 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,680 Speaker 1: is this point of view worth revisiting? And so I 747 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,720 Speaker 1: credit ingrid this woman's story for giving me the courage 748 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,840 Speaker 1: I needed to question some of these assumptions and to 749 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:32,840 Speaker 1: now feel like, of course, I'm like a whole woman 750 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,319 Speaker 1: in her you know, without kids like, how could I 751 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,000 Speaker 1: have ever thought that? It seems preposterous now, but we 752 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:42,319 Speaker 1: all grow up with these self limiting beliefs, and so 753 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:44,760 Speaker 1: I believe in the power of change to help unearth 754 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 1: what they are and then give us a chance to 755 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:48,000 Speaker 1: question them. 756 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:56,080 Speaker 2: Well said, Well said, Maya. We're running out of time, 757 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:58,720 Speaker 2: but I want to end with a little quick fire 758 00:39:58,840 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 2: about change. 759 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 3: Okay, I'll try every thing. 760 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:03,799 Speaker 2: We always end every episode of my podcast with a 761 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:05,680 Speaker 2: quick fire. But you've already done that before because you 762 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:07,920 Speaker 2: came on the show four years ago. 763 00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:11,040 Speaker 1: And you've answered those questions. 764 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:12,719 Speaker 2: So I'm going to give you. I'm going to give 765 00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:14,920 Speaker 2: you a new set of questions. So these questions have 766 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 2: to be answered in one sentence. All right. So the 767 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:22,400 Speaker 2: first question is what is the first change people should 768 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:24,879 Speaker 2: choose after tonight. 769 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:27,840 Speaker 3: Being present when they are with other people. 770 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:31,160 Speaker 2: That's a great answer, Very good. All right, put your. 771 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:34,400 Speaker 3: Phone away because that really right. 772 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:37,960 Speaker 2: Now, keep filming so that so that more people. 773 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,120 Speaker 1: And I'm not allowed to go on, but just know 774 00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 1: that that is also evidence based. 775 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:48,320 Speaker 2: Go ahead, do you want to tell us the let's okay, 776 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:53,480 Speaker 2: all right, okay, okay, second question, the change that you're 777 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:55,960 Speaker 2: happiest you made in the last twelve months. 778 00:40:56,120 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 1: To care less what people I don't respect think of me. Yeah, 779 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 1: that's a really hard one. As still working on it. 780 00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:09,440 Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, but I just want can't we just 781 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:11,319 Speaker 1: all feel love for one another? It's like such a 782 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 1: naive point of view, but I'm like, I just want 783 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:15,959 Speaker 1: people to love each other. And then it's just yeah, 784 00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,120 Speaker 1: and then you know, not looking at comments on the internet. 785 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:24,520 Speaker 2: So question number three, something you're trying to change this year? 786 00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:30,120 Speaker 1: I am an extremely impatient person. Can I have a 787 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:30,680 Speaker 1: few more sense? 788 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 2: You've been doing it for all of them without permission? 789 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:36,400 Speaker 2: Why you asking now? 790 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,319 Speaker 1: I'm extremely impatient. I for so long hated this part 791 00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,439 Speaker 1: of my personality. Though, I think one thing that's really 792 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,719 Speaker 1: helpful for everyone is to remember there's always two sides 793 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:49,680 Speaker 1: to the coin on personality traits. So my impatience has 794 00:41:49,719 --> 00:41:52,040 Speaker 1: also really helped me in my work in the White 795 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:54,480 Speaker 1: House and my work you know, at various places like that. 796 00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:56,560 Speaker 1: Impatience propels me to try to get stuff done, so 797 00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:59,160 Speaker 1: I try not to resent it too much, but I 798 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,759 Speaker 1: think it would be really good for my overall well 799 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:06,000 Speaker 1: being if I just like took a b So when 800 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:07,920 Speaker 1: my you know, if my boss sends me a message 801 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:11,239 Speaker 1: on like a Friday afternoon, that's like, hey, period, don't 802 00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:11,759 Speaker 1: freak out. 803 00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:14,480 Speaker 3: You can wait till Monday. It's going to be okay. 804 00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:17,120 Speaker 1: Whereas I tend to kind of like need resolution as 805 00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:18,080 Speaker 1: quickly as possible. 806 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:19,879 Speaker 2: That's I think we can all relate. 807 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:21,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, I just want closure. 808 00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:29,320 Speaker 2: The smallest change that someone can make in their relationships. 809 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,400 Speaker 1: Try not to impose your mental frame, your way of 810 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,520 Speaker 1: seeing the world onto the other person. So before you 811 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:41,239 Speaker 1: talk at them, deeply listen to them, and then you 812 00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:42,920 Speaker 1: will be able to find common ground. 813 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:45,520 Speaker 2: Great answers, Well, you're like, I'm. 814 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:46,280 Speaker 3: Trying to be picky. 815 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:48,840 Speaker 2: This is really good. This is the final question I 816 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 2: want to ask you. Okay, and this one go on. 817 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:53,399 Speaker 2: You can go on on it because I really want 818 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:56,640 Speaker 2: to understand it. Do you believe that if we chose 819 00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:01,040 Speaker 2: more change we'd be better at dealing with change? 820 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,160 Speaker 3: I love that question so much so. 821 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,719 Speaker 1: The previous stop of this book tour was in San Francisco, 822 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:11,799 Speaker 1: and Michael Lewis was moderating the conversation, so the author 823 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,919 Speaker 1: and journalist and someone in the audience asked a question 824 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:19,520 Speaker 1: actually about the uncertainty around AI and as a mom, 825 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,399 Speaker 1: she was thinking, what do I tell my kid right, 826 00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:25,400 Speaker 1: so that they learn to embrace change, Because that's actually 827 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:27,879 Speaker 1: kind of what you're asking, right, How can we take 828 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:31,759 Speaker 1: strategic steps to embrace change more? And he gave a 829 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:35,640 Speaker 1: fantastic piece of advice. He said, take an improv comedy class. 830 00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:40,720 Speaker 1: Get yourself off balance. That's really the kind of change 831 00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,640 Speaker 1: that's really healthy for us is to go outside of 832 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:48,000 Speaker 1: our comfort zone, to test ourselves and to be in 833 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:52,960 Speaker 1: almost this perpetual state of unease, because that's when we 834 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:57,040 Speaker 1: flex all these muscles, all these abilities that we had 835 00:43:57,120 --> 00:43:59,280 Speaker 1: that may have been laying dormant because we were always 836 00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,920 Speaker 1: choosing what was comfortable, and we get to see them 837 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:04,960 Speaker 1: on display and think, oh, well, like maybe I am 838 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:09,560 Speaker 1: a little bit more resilient than I thought. And I 839 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:13,400 Speaker 1: think it's so great for us to introduce change in 840 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:16,880 Speaker 1: the form of challenge when we learn a new skill, 841 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:22,000 Speaker 1: for example. So you inter you interviewed Chris Hemsworth for 842 00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:24,560 Speaker 1: your podcast and I was his brain coach on this 843 00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:29,520 Speaker 1: show called Limitless, and I was so inspired by his attitude. 844 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:30,719 Speaker 3: You know, this guy is like. 845 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:34,960 Speaker 1: One of the most famous actors in the world. He 846 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:37,680 Speaker 1: could just sit back and relax, And he was telling 847 00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:41,080 Speaker 1: this audience at the London premiere, I think we all 848 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,279 Speaker 1: need to be a little bit more uncomfortable. He's like, 849 00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,880 Speaker 1: I seek out discomfort wherever I can. He's like, you know, 850 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:48,239 Speaker 1: with these nests, thermosats to adapt that adapt to the 851 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:51,200 Speaker 1: ideal temperature, and smart white, like everything's meant to be 852 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:53,480 Speaker 1: customized so that it. 853 00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:54,480 Speaker 3: Brings ease into our lives. 854 00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:57,080 Speaker 1: And Chris was saying, I feel like that's the only 855 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,680 Speaker 1: vehicle for growth is to be in these uncertain, uncomfort situations. 856 00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:01,279 Speaker 3: That's the only way. 857 00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:05,719 Speaker 1: The episode was all about flexing our brain's capacity for plasticity, right, 858 00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:09,279 Speaker 1: and building cognitive reserve so that as we age, we 859 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:10,680 Speaker 1: feel the impact less. 860 00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:11,359 Speaker 3: Again. 861 00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:13,120 Speaker 1: I was just so inspired to hear him say that, 862 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:15,640 Speaker 1: because again he could just kick back and be like, okay, 863 00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:18,320 Speaker 1: I'm good, and instead, you know, for our episode, he 864 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,080 Speaker 1: learned the drums and played with Ed Sheeran in front 865 00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:22,759 Speaker 1: of seventy thousand people, So we don't have to do 866 00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:23,400 Speaker 1: that version. 867 00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 3: I'm not doing that version. 868 00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:28,520 Speaker 1: My smaller commitment to introduce a little bit of change 869 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:32,120 Speaker 1: into my life was re picking up learning Mandarin, so 870 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:35,640 Speaker 1: my husband's Chinese American and his relatives don't speak English. 871 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:39,160 Speaker 1: And I took a brief hiatus, namely three and a 872 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:41,640 Speaker 1: half years while I wrote this book where I stopped 873 00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:44,320 Speaker 1: taking those lessons, and I'm now committing to starting again 874 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:45,439 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six. 875 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,040 Speaker 2: Well, Min, I'm so happy that you took that brief 876 00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:52,439 Speaker 2: hiatus and put together this amazing book, The Other Side 877 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:55,880 Speaker 2: of Change. As I said, when you pick up this 878 00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:58,480 Speaker 2: book today, you're not picking up just a book. You're 879 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:03,840 Speaker 2: picking up interview research, hundreds and thousands of hours of 880 00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:11,560 Speaker 2: other people's stories, lived experience, ups and downs, challenges, breakthroughs, discomfort, 881 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:14,160 Speaker 2: and you get to invite that all into your life. 882 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,120 Speaker 2: And as someone who grew up as an avid reader 883 00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:21,919 Speaker 2: of nonfiction and true stories, I think what Maya's put 884 00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:25,000 Speaker 2: together in this incredible book is an invitation to all 885 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:27,799 Speaker 2: of us to study the lives of people just like 886 00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:33,160 Speaker 2: us who have walked the path of challenges that we 887 00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:35,400 Speaker 2: either have in our life right now or may have 888 00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:39,920 Speaker 2: in the future, and gain probably the most important skill 889 00:46:40,719 --> 00:46:44,600 Speaker 2: humans could potentially ever develop, which is dealing with change. 890 00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:47,719 Speaker 2: There's probably no if there's one skill you dedicate twenty 891 00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:51,120 Speaker 2: twenty six too, it should probably be dealing with change. 892 00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:54,080 Speaker 2: There is no more important skill, not Mandarin, sorry. 893 00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:55,640 Speaker 3: No, not anything else. 894 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:58,800 Speaker 2: It's dealing with change. And so this book is dedicated 895 00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,680 Speaker 2: to that mayas dedicated in half years and the people 896 00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:04,200 Speaker 2: that are in the book have spent decades living it through. 897 00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:05,560 Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, totally. 898 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:08,080 Speaker 2: And so from the bottom of my heart, hope you'll 899 00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:11,520 Speaker 2: grab a copy. I'm so proud of you and grateful 900 00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:15,319 Speaker 2: for just how you walk through life, and even just 901 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:17,960 Speaker 2: your expertise and all the answers you gave today was 902 00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:20,960 Speaker 2: just second to none. It was unbelievable to learn from 903 00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,040 Speaker 2: you and listen to you. I'm always humbold when I'm 904 00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:26,200 Speaker 2: around you. Oh thank you, sir, and I'm so grateful 905 00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:27,560 Speaker 2: that you let me support you. I'm going to let 906 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:30,759 Speaker 2: everyone ask you all their amazing questions now that I'm 907 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:33,640 Speaker 2: sure they're dying to ask you. And thank you again 908 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:35,520 Speaker 2: for letting me be a part of this. Give it up, 909 00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:39,880 Speaker 2: my error. If you love this episode, you'll enjoy my 910 00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:43,120 Speaker 2: interview with doctor Daniel Ahman on how to change your 911 00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:44,880 Speaker 2: life by changing your brain. 912 00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:50,279 Speaker 4: If we want a healthy mind, it actually starts with 913 00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:53,560 Speaker 4: a healthy brain. You know, I've had the blessing or 914 00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:58,080 Speaker 4: the curse to scam. Over a thousand convicted felons and 915 00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:02,040 Speaker 4: over one hundred murderers, and their brains are very damaged.