EP 72: Responding To Change: Maya Shankar On Finding Your “Why” When Facing An Unexpected Detour

We’re all likely to encounter some change in life that’s unwelcome:  a scary health diagnosis, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, or the end of a dream.  Maya Shankar, PhD, deeply understands the concept of change and offers a roadmap for navigating it.   

She is a cognitive scientist and Senior Director of Behavioral Economics at Google.  But she is perhaps best known for her side gig: being the creator and host of the award-winning podcast A Slight Change of Plans.  Her fascination with how we navigate change started when she was a teen, and a hand injury forced her to give up her dream of becoming a professional violinist. 

In this episode, Maya speaks with Karen about that first pivot as well as some difficult challenges she faced later, and how she has built a successful career teaching others how to learn from the unexpected.  It’s all in her New York Times Bestseller, “The Other Side Of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans.”  

 💬 In this episode, we explore:

• Maya’s biggest piece of advice for transitioning through change: finding your “why”
• Tools that can be helpful during the most difficult periods of change 
• How Maya’s mother taught her the importance of the cold call / cold email (or, in her mom’s case, the cold drop-by-Julliard) 
• Maya’s view of imposter syndrome and how one can leverage it into becoming better at your job 

Resources:🔗 Visit Dr. Maya Shankar’s website 

📕 For Information on “The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans.”

📸  Follow Maya Shakar on Instagram 

📸  Follow Maya Shakar on X

🎧 Listen to A Slight Change of Plans 

📸  Follow Riverhead Books on Instagram 

🎧 New episodes of How She Does It drop every Tuesday. Be sure to follow us so you never miss an episode

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