The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans

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 A Slight Change of Plans.

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.

About the Author

Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist and creator of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, named “Best Show of the Year” by Apple. A Rhodes Scholar, she served as a senior adviser in the Obama White House and as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations. Shankar has been profiled by The New Yorker, has been a guest on NPR, CBS Mornings, and the Today show, and is a neuroscience expert on Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. She is a former violin student of Itzhak Perlman at Juilliard. She lives with her husband in Mountain View, California.

Author Residence: Mountain View, CA

Author Hometown: Connecticut