Dr. Maya Shankar

They can obviously have lots of positive effects.

For example, if you are an entrepreneur, it breeds instant camaraderie with other entrepreneurs.

And it gives you a sense of meaning and purpose every day that you wake up and can stave off existential angst.

So there are benefits.

But I really do believe that we should try and build more robust, expansive identities that are more resilient in the face of change.

So that when...

something is taken away and we're not able to do that thing, we have something left.

We don't feel that all of us has been taken away by the change.

And it's so interesting, Hala, I was actually just talking with someone who reached out to me.

This guy had heard my TED Talk and he said, you know, I was a human rights lawyer and I got a diagnosis of long COVID and I've no longer been able to perform my lawyer duties.

I just don't have the energy or the cognition to do it.

And he said, but I listened to your talk about trying to find your why versus your what.

And I asked myself what I loved about being a human rights lawyer.

And it was representing the disadvantaged among us.

And he said, I realized that I could actually still achieve that why in my new state by being an advocate for long haulers, for being an advocate for this new community that I'm a part of.

And that was such a beautiful example of consistency in the throes of change.

Change is scary for all sorts of reasons.

And one of the biggest reasons is that it's often accompanied by a ton of uncertainty.

And our brains are not wired to like uncertainty, Hala.

So one of my favorite research studies shows that we are more stressed when we're told we have a 50% chance of getting an electric shock than when we're told we have a 100% chance of getting an electric shock.