In honor of Back-to-School season, throughout September, Everyday Better is sharing conversations inspired by the essential life skills we didn’t learn in school, but should have. This week on the show, cognitive scientist and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, Maya Shankar, reveals what happens to us when we encounter unexpected and unwanted changes in our lives. 

Finding a way to deal with disappointment, shock and unwanted change is one of the most quintessential skills of adulthood. So why do so few of us know how to do it? Even Maya—who studies change—found herself at a loss when she realized that her lifelong dream of becoming a mother might never be realized. 

In her conversation with Leah, Maya shares the psychological reasons why we all resist change and how we can learn to navigate events that stir up grief, shake our identities and change our realities. 

Pre-order May’s forthcoming book The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans here.

Follow Leah Smart and Maya Shankar on LinkedIn.