A revelatory exploration of the ways we can find meaning in the tumult of change, from a renowned cognitive scientist and host of the podcast Life has a way of thwarting our best-laid plans. Out of nowhere you get an unexpected diagnosis, or your relationship ends, or you suffer some other trick of fate. In these moments, it can feel like you’re free-falling into the unknown. Maya Shankar has spent decades researching people’s interior lives. When an unexpected change in her own life left her reeling, she sought out people who had gone through extraordinary disruption and asked them to tell her everything. This book pairs intimate, illuminating stories with the latest science of human behavior, offering wisdom and practical strategies to help us better navigate these pivotal moments. Shankar encourages us to rethink our relationship with change by asking: What if we saw change as a chance to reimagine ourselves, rather than as something to just endure? What potential could change unlock within us? The unique stresses and demands of our situation can help us tap into new abilities, perspectives, and values. Sometimes the hardest moments in our lives allow us to more deeply discover who we are and who we can become.

Autorentext
Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist and creator of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, previously named “Best Show of the Year” by Apple. She served as a senior policy advisor in the Obama White House, where she founded and chaired the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team. She was also appointed as the first behavioral science advisor to the United Nations. Maya has a BA from Yale and a PhD from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience at Stanford. She has been profiled by The New Yorker, has been a guest on NPR, CBS Mornings, and Today, and was featured as a neuroscience expert on National Geographic’s Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. She is a former violin student of Itzhak Perlman at Juilliard. Maya lives with her husband in California.

Klappentext

**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"A rare combination of beautiful storytelling, cognitive science, and wholehearted wisdom. —Brené Brown

A revelatory exploration of how we can find meaning in the tumult of change, from a renowned cognitive scientist and host of the critically acclaimed podcast A Slight Change of Plans**

Life has a way of thwarting our best-laid plans. Out of nowhere, we’re confronting the end of a relationship, an unexpected diagnosis, the loss of a job, or some other twist of fate. In these moments, it can feel like we’re free-falling into the unknown.

As a cognitive scientist, Maya Shankar has spent decades studying the human mind. When an unwanted change in her own life left her reeling, she sought out people who had navigated major disruptions. In The Other Side of Change, Shankar tells their riveting, singular stories and weaves in scientific insights to illuminate universal lessons hidden within them. The result is a rich portrait of our complex reactions to change and a deep well of wisdom we can draw from during these experiences.

Shankar invites us to rethink our relationship with change altogether. When a big change happens to us, it can lead to profound change within us. The unique stresses and demands of being thrust into a new reality can lead us to uncover new abilities, perspectives, and values, transforming us in extraordinary ways. What if we saw moments of upheaval as an opportunity to reimagine who we can be, rather than as something to just endure? What potential could we unlock within ourselves?

Whether you're processing a past change, grappling with a present one, or bracing for a future one, this book is a wise and thought-provoking companion to help you discover who you can become on the other side of change.