Rebroadcast: Your brain is hardwired to resist change. Here’s how to retrain it.
Dec 28, 2023
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Shankar Vedantam, host of Hidden Brain, discusses how our brains resist change and offers strategies to embrace change as opportunities. Topics include talking about grief and death, finding purpose in career decisions, navigating major life transitions, the power of self-compassion, and making promises to our future selves.
Humans often resist change due to evolutionary triggers, but recognizing our capacity for change can help us navigate transitions with more confidence and openness.
During life transitions, reflecting on our purpose and asking simple questions can guide us in making choices that align with our evolving passions and a sense of fulfillment.
Deep dives
The Power of Adaptability in Life Transitions
Humans have a unique ability to adapt to various circumstances, which sets us apart from other species. However, despite our adaptability, we often resist change due to evolutionary triggers that make us cautious. This resistance can prevent us from fully embracing life transitions. It's important to recognize that our capacity to change and evolve is far greater than we tend to believe. Studies have shown that people consistently underestimate their potential for change in the future, a phenomenon known as the end of history illusion. Understanding our resilience and adaptability can help us navigate transitions with more confidence and openness.
Choosing Purpose in Transitions
During life transitions, it can be helpful to reflect on our purpose and what truly matters to us. Shankar Vedanthem suggests asking three simple questions: Do I love what I'm doing or contemplating? Am I good at it? Does the world need it? By answering these questions honestly, we can find clues to guide us in making choices that align with our purpose. It's important to remember that our loves, skills, and the needs of the world may change over time, and that's okay. Embracing uncertainty and taking action rather than being paralyzed by indecision can often lead us to discover our true passions and a sense of fulfillment.
Managing Emotions and Embracing Change
Transitions, whether chosen or forced upon us, can be emotionally challenging. It's natural to feel uncertainty and apprehension during these times. Rather than avoiding or trying to suppress difficult emotions, it's essential to acknowledge and understand them. Sitting with uncertainty and embracing ambivalence can lead to new insights and possibilities. Exercising self-compassion and practicing emotional intelligence are key in managing negative emotions and navigating transitions. Recognizing that our future selves may have different perspectives and values than our present selves allows us to approach change with curiosity, humility, and bravery. By cultivating these qualities, we can embrace transitions as opportunities for growth and personal evolution.
Transitions can feel intimidating and destabilizing. But these moments can also be opportunities for growth, reflection, and self-discovery — especially when you have the right tools. In this episode of Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu talks to Hidden Brain’s Shankar Vedantam about why pivot points can feel so challenging and how to embrace them as opportunities, rather than obstacles.
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