Strong Identity, Loosely Held

Your identity protects you, until it starts breaking you. Fresh off her TEDx Hobart talk "Strong Identity Loosely Held", Dr Rebecca Chabot unpacks why a rigid identity keeps your nervous system in permanent defense, and what it costs you.

David brings the stranded-island test (who are you without the job, the possessions, the star sign?) and the uncomfortable truth that the old identity has to die before the new one shows up. Rebecca brings the best analogy of the episode: crabs, which grow by shedding the shell that used to protect them, and staying soft under a rock while the next one forms. The skill underneath it all: adaptive self-awareness, hearing yourself clearly enough to change before burnout forces you.