Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

How to Handle Life When It Falls Apart: Rewire Your Beliefs, Calm Your Mind, Stop Ruminating & Move Forward With Confidence: Dr Maya Shankar #635

190 snips

Mar 11, 2026

Dr Maya Shankar, cognitive scientist and author of The Other Side of Change, explores how minds respond to unwanted change. She discusses why uncertainty feels so destabilizing. Short stories show how change reveals hidden beliefs and can open new identities. Practical tools for stopping rumination and building tolerance for uncertainty are highlighted.

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INSIGHT

Uncertainty Feels Worse Than Certain Bad Outcomes

Humans prefer certainty so much that ambiguity causes more stress than a definite negative outcome.
Maya cites a study where people are more stressed at a 50% chance of electric shock than a 100% chance, showing intolerance of uncertainty drives anxiety and rumination.

INSIGHT

The End Of History Illusion Limits Future Change

People underestimate how much they'll change in the future due to the end of history illusion.
Maya explains major life changes accelerate internal transformations, so current self can't predict who you'll become.

ANECDOTE

Amnesia Revealed And Freed A Hidden Cultural Shame

Ingrid's amnesia erased childhood shame about her Colombian heritage and let her rediscover family stories with delight.
When memories returned, she rejected the old shame and kept the renewed relationship with her past.

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Most of us are quite comfortable with change when we’ve chosen it: a new job, new home or new relationship. It’s the unwanted, unexpected changes that tend to floor us - like an illness, loss or breakup - that leave us wondering who we are and how on earth we’re meant to go on.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr Maya Shankar, cognitive scientist and author ofThe Other Side of Change. Maya has spent years studying how our minds respond to change, and she’s also gone through some profound changes of her own – from a hand injury that shattered her hopes of becoming a concert violinist, to a long, painful journey with fertility.

We talk about so many different topics related to the theme of change, including why our brains find uncertainty so stressful, how unwanted change can reveal hidden beliefs that we hold and why witnessing other people’s courage or kindness can quietly change what we believe is possible for ourselves. We also explore a variety of evidence-based practical tools to help us deal with things like rumination and negative thought spirals.

Throughout the conversation, Maya unpacks some inspiring stories of people facing extreme adversity - things like illness, betrayal, loss and even imprisonment – who were still able to find meaning, new identities and unexpected gifts on the other side.

Yes, change is something that many humans struggle with, but as you are about to learn, with the right approach, it can be one of the very best tools to help us transform, grow and evolve.

I hope you enjoy listening.

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Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/635

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