Cognitive neuroscientist & former Senior Advisor in the Obama White House Dr. Maya Shankar joins Rich to talk about the science behind growth & transformation, navigating change, and how to make meaning from painful experiences. To read more about Maya and peruse the full show notes, go here👉🏾https://bit.ly/richroll674 ✌🏼🌱 - Rich LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/rrpitunes Spotify: http://bit.ly/rrpspotify Google: http://bit.ly/rrpgooglepods Meal Planner: http://meals.richroll.com Voicing Change Book: http://richroll.com/vc Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RichRollPodcastClips Newsletter: http://bit.ly/rollcallemail CONNECT WITH RICH ✩ Website - http://richroll.com​ ✩ Rich Roll Podcast - https://richroll.com/all-episodes/ ✩ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/richroll/ ✩ Twitter - https://twitter.com/richroll ✩ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/richrollfans ✩ Strava - https://www.strava.com/athletes/14443?oq=rich ✩ Memoir: Finding Ultra - https://www.richroll.com/shop/books/finding-ultra/ ✩ Meals - http://meals.richroll.com​ ✩ Cook - The Plantpower Way - https://www.richroll.com/shop/books/the-plantpower-way-signed/ ✩ Italian! - The Plantpower Way: Italia - https://www.richroll.com/shop/books/the-plantpower-way-italia-signed/ ✩ Support - https://www.patreon.com/richroll FILMED AND EDITED BY BLAKE CURTIS & DAN DRAKE https://www.blakecurtis.net/ https://www.dandrake333.com/ 00:00:00 - Intro 00:05:16 - How Maya Began Playing Violin 00:08:39 - The Connection Between Music and Math in the Brain 00:09:41 - Juilliard was Her Big Goal 00:13:14 - The Benefits of Limits on Technical Ability 00:14:28 - The Power of Work When Lacking Talent 00:16:55 - Juilliard’s Pre-College Program + Maya’s Experience 00:18:49 - Who is Itzhak Pearlman? 00:24:15 - Pearlman’s Teaching Approach: Teaching Her to Teach Herself 00:26:15 - The Lightness of Spirit Approach, Not Taking Self or Music Too Seriously 00:28:06 - Maya Has Injury and Told She Could Never Play Again at 15 00:31:37 - The Change of Plans - Altered Her Sense of Identity 00:32:25 - Identity Foreclosure - “It Held Me Back That My Identity Was So Fixed” 00:37:19 - Rich’s Story of Losing Swimming Identity 00:41:06 - Finding Book Language Instinct by Steven Pinker 00:45:30 - Maya’s “Do Whatever it Takes” Mindset Story 00:49:16 - Maya Was the Only Freshman Accepted 00:51:36 - Rich Encouraged With People’s Interest in Neuroscience 00:53:00 - Maya’s Passion for Translating Science into General Terms + Examples 00:53:39 - How Maya’s Dad Taught Theoretical Physics Lectures Through iTunes U 00:55:45 - Maya’s Next Inflection Point - She Wasn’t Enjoying the Neuroscience Work 00:57:11 - Maya's Mentor Laurie Tells Her About a New Way to Work Through the Government 00:58:45 - “The Power of the Default” Being Auto Signed Up Instead of Having to Sign Up 01:00:04 - Laurie Helps Maya Get a Job Doing Behavior-Focused Work With Obama 01:05:54 - “Keep in touch” - What That Means 01:07:40 - Sold Her Lease in California and Moved to D.C. Before Even Getting the Job 01:08:21 - Continuing to Knock on Doors and Making Thing Happen 01:09:04 - The Real Challenge Begins After You Pivot and Get "The Thing" You Want... 01:10:24 - Always Organic + Friendship-Based 01:15:09 - Maya’s Personal Trainer’s Approach 01:17:29 - Gets The Job at the White House... Now What? 01:24:29 - One Word Change That Caused a 9% Increase in Response 01:26:05 - Zero Cost Simple Changes 01:26:45 - A Lot of Hard Work, Got Attention of President Obama and Had Meeting with Him 01:27:56 - Obama Signs an Executive Order to Make Her Team Permanent 01:28:40 - What is Obama Like? 01:33:15 - How the Executive Order Came Into Being 01:34:10 - “Behavioral Economics” vs. Behavior Science 01:36:48 - Battling Systemic Racism/Disenfranchisement. Mistrust/Disinformation. 01:42:45 - Operational Transparency 01:46:47 - Study About Embarrassing Stories vs. Proud Stories Effect on Productivity 01:48:36 - Surrogate Miscarriage Story 01:50:57 - Sharing with Her Podcast Audience. 01:51:44 - The Therapeutic Benefits and Empowerment from Sharing Hardships, Grief and Shame. 01:59:52 - Maya’s Friend Scott Episode: Stage 4 Cancer 02:04:54 - Apple Named Maya's Podcast “A Slight Change of Plans” The Best Podcast of 2021 02:07:30 - Chasing flow states: ASCoP Episode: “Tommy Caldwell Finds Clarity” 02:10:45 - Actionable Tools for Change. 02:11:24 - How Change Actually Works 02:16:14 - The Illusion of Control vs. Surrender 02:18:06 - Is ‘Being Present-Minded’ a Movement Right Now? 02:23:20 - Closing * * * * * NEW TO RICH? Hi I'm Rich Roll. I'm a vegan ultra-endurance athlete, author, podcaster, public speaker & wellness evangelist. But mainly I'm a dad of four. If you want to know more, visit my website or check out these two the NY Times articles: http://bit.ly/otillonyt http://bit.ly/vegansglam I LOVE MAIL! SEND IT HERE: 29617 Agoura Rd. Agoura Hills, CA 91301 #richroll #richrollpodcast