Good Inside with Dr. Becky When Life Has Other Plans with Maya Shankar
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Dec 30, 2025 
Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist and author, dives into navigating life's changes and uncertainties. She shares her own experiences with fertility struggles, highlighting that change often feels insurmountable and can challenge our identity. Together with Dr. Becky, they discuss the 'end-of-history illusion' and how we underestimate our capacity for growth. Maya emphasizes anchoring identity in our motivations rather than our roles, encouraging curiosity about future possibilities. Their conversation blends personal stories with practical strategies to cope with life's unpredictability.
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Why Change Feels So Disorienting
- Change feels disorienting because it brings uncertainty and threatens identity.
- Our brains prefer known outcomes, so ambiguity often causes more stress than certain harm.
Fertility Loss That Sparked The Book
- Maya recounts repeated fertility losses that exposed how helplessness feels when hustle doesn't work.
- That experience motivated her to seek practical tools and write The Other Side of Change.
We Change Alongside Life's Changes
- We wrongly assume the person we are now is the person we'll always be (end of history illusion).
- Change forces internal transformation and reveals hidden capabilities and values.
