Susan Cain ON: Why It’s Okay to Feel Sad & the First Step to Healing Emotional Trauma

Today, I talk to Susan Cain, the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, which spent seven years on the New York times bestseller list and has been translated into over 40 languages. It was named the number one best book of the year by Fast Company, which also named her as one of its most creative people in business. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications and her records smashing Ted Talk, which was where I first discovered her, has been viewed over 30 million times on ted.com and YouTube combined and was named by Bill Gates as one of his all time favorite talks. Now her most recent book is called Bittersweet: How Sorrow And Longing Make Us Whole, which has become an instant #1 New York Times bestseller.

Susan explains the reason behind why we process pain differently and why moving on is doable for others after some time but seems difficult for some. We also discuss how some people were able to turn painful experiences into inspiration and achieve creative success, the importance of shared connection and how we can find balance in expressing, accepting, and addressing our individual pain through these connections, and finally, the first step to healing is acceptance.

This conversation shows us how we can choose to wallow in grief or in pain and allow it to control us or embrace these bittersweet emotions to fuel our motivation to heal, to connect, and to be a new you.    

What We Discuss:

00:00:00 Intro00:03:33 How did you start figuring out pain?00:05:52 Acceptance is the first step00:09:16 The union between souls00:12:05 Connection is the most healing of all00:16:19 The power of music00:22:01 Turn your pain into a creative offering00:24:21 Connection is the key00:28:25 We keep the memories of the people we lost00:30:42 The movement for compassion00:36:57 What is disenfranchised grief00:40:10 Finding balance in expressing and accepting your pain00:49:36 What can leaders do?00:54:37 Our culture of compassion00:57:39 Susan on Final Five

Episode Resources

Susan Cain | WebsiteSusan Cain | LinkedInSusan Cain | FacebookSusan Cain | InstagramSusan Cain | Twitter

Susan Cain’s Courses

Bittersweet: Practices & ReflectionsQuiet at Work

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