Be Not Afraid (Part II): “I’m Scared to Find Out Who I Really Am.”
About this episode
In this episode, Suzy Welch discusses the fear of self-knowledge and the importance of understanding one's values.
Fear of the unknown gets plenty of attention. But an even deeper fear lurks beneath it: the fear of what might happen if we truly understood ourselves. In Part II of the Be Not Afraid series, your host Suzy Welch explores why self-knowledge can feel so threatening — and why so many people instinctively avoid it. The episode begins with a revealing experiment: Suzy once asked her colleagues to anonymously write down the first word that came to mind when they saw her name appear on their phones. Most responses were predictable. One was not. The word was “machine.” That moment opens a larger conversation about values — how difficult they are to see clearly, and why powerful forces constantly distort them. Suzy explains the four dynamics she calls the Four Horsemen of Values Destruction: Expectations, Expedience, Events, and Economic security. Along the way, she responds to a listener who admits she’s afraid to take The Values Bridge assessment for one simple reason: she worries the results might reveal that her life is far from aligned with what matters most. The fear is understandable. But the data tells an interesting story: almost no one is perfectly aligned with their values —…
More episodes of Becoming You with Suzy Welch
- Sixteen Words That Give You Permission…to Admit What You Want (Part 2)
- Sixteen Words that Will Set You Free…To Be You (Part I)
- FAQs: You Know What You Want. So Why Can't You Get There?
- Two Truths and a Lie About Becoming You
- Be Not Afraid (Part III): “Who Am I Without the Life I Had?”
- Be Not Afraid (Part I): “I Took a Sabbatical. Should I Hide That From Employers?”
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