When was the last time someone told you your dreams were too big? Too impractical? Not serious enough? Maybe it wasn’t even someone else. Maybe it was that voice in your head telling you to grow up and get real.
Let me be real with you. In my twenties, I was that person. The one rolling my eyes at artists and creatives. I thought they were self-indulgent. Like, how are you helping anyone by making a wall look prettier? If you want to make a difference in the world, shouldn’t you be solving real problems?
What if everything you believe about your personality is just an elaborate story you’ve been telling yourself? You know where these stories come from, right? That voice in your head. You know the one. It’s got you totally convinced about who you are. “I’m just not good with money.” “I’ll always be anxious.” “This is just my personality.” But here’s the thing about personalities. They’re not set in stone. They’re more like stories we tell ourselves over and over until we believe them. And trust me, our brains are really good at finding evidence to support whatever story we’re telling.
Think about it. Every time you react to something, your brain is basically taking notes. “Oh, this is how we handle stress. Got it. Filing that away for next time.” Before you know it, you’ve got these deep grooves in your brain. Like a record that keeps playing the same song because that’s where the needle naturally falls. Here’s where it gets good though. Science is showing us something pretty wild: these grooves in our brain? They’re not permanent. Every single experience you have is literally rewiring your brain. Creating new pathways. New possibilities.
Today our guest is Olga Khazan, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of “Me, But Better.” She’s done the research, run the experiments, and found out what it really takes to change who you are. Not just on the surface, but at your core.
We Will Learn
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Why you keep falling back into old patterns (and the weird brain science behind breaking free)
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The real reason most people fail when trying to change themselves
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How to tell if your personality traits are helping you grow or just keeping you safe and stuck
Links
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