How to Shape Your Identity & Goals | Dr. Maya Shankar

In this episode, my guest is Maya Shankar, Ph.D., a cognitive
scientist, former senior advisor to the White House and Chair of
the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team. She is the
creator and host of the podcast, A Slight Change of Plans. We
discuss how our identities develop and change, how our beliefs and
internal narratives shape our perception of self, and how to use
structured introspection about our values to determine our goals.
We discuss how to cope and grow through uncertain situations,
especially those that force us to reexamine our roles and identity.
Dr. Shankar shares her experience of redefining her identity after
an early career-ending setback. She also explains numerous
science-based strategies to effectively define goals, structure our
goal pursuits and maintain consistent motivation. This episode
provides a science-supported toolkit and roadmap to assess your
identity and goals and positively transform in the face of change.
For show notes, including referenced articles and additional
resources, please visit hubermanlab.com. Use Ask Huberman Lab, our
new AI-powered platform, for a summary, clips, and insights from
this episode. Thank you to our sponsors AG1:
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https://wakingup.com/huberman Momentous:
https://livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Dr. Maya
Shankar (00:02:53) Sponsors: LMNT & Waking Up (00:05:15)
Identity Foreclosure, Identity Paralysis, Throughlines (00:12:10)
Identity & Adolescence; “Essence” & Shame (00:16:58)
Delight & Awe (00:23:00) Delight & Possibilities for Self
(00:29:28) Playing Violin, Childhood (00:35:17) Sponsor: AG1
(00:35:58) Intrinsic Motivation; Juilliard & Courage (00:45:43)
Competitive Environments; Curiosity & Growth (00:53:46)
Re-Creating of Self (01:00:51) Pop-Science, Science Accessibility
(01:06:32) Passions & Curiosity (01:13:20) Change, Cognitive
Closure, End-of-History Illusion (01:22:29) Self-Awareness &
Critical Feedback (01:30:48) Tools: Flexible Mindset; Reframing
& Venting; Gratitude (01:40:13) Tool: Framing Goals (01:47:13)
Tool: Agency in Goal Pursuit (01:52:25) Tool: Like-Minded People
& Goal Pursuit; Challenging Beliefs (02:01:27) Cultivating
Open-Mindedness & Empathy (02:08:15) Building Self Narratives:
Empathy, Burnout (02:13:56) Tools: Goal Setting (02:19:54) Tool:
“Middle Problem”, Maintaining Motivation (02:24:55) Tool: Aversion
& Memory, Peak-End Rule (02:31:41) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube
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