Cultivating Resilience With Dan Ariely

The Anxious Achiever

Morra Aarons-Mele

Business, Careers, Management, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What happens when stress, uncertainty, and lack of control start to take over your brain? In this episode, I sit down with renowned behavioral economist Dan Ariely to talk about resilience, learned helplessness, anxiety, and why so many people feel overwhelmed right now. Dan shares how surviving severe burns, years in the hospital, and later facing conspiracy theories and death threats shaped his understanding of stress, resilience, and human behavior. We also dive into why uncertainty at work feels so psychologically destabilizing, how scarcity and anxiety reduce our mental capacity, why humans look for villains during stressful times, and what actually helps us build resilience. Tune in to learn ways to regain agency when life feels chaotic. Check out our sponsors: Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to shopify.com/anxiousachiever Chime - Head to chime.com/achiever to sign up Quince - Head to quince.com/ACHIEVER for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns Monarch - Use code ACHIEVER at monarch.com to get 50% off your first year Physician’s Choice - Use code PCPODCAST10 at physicianschoice.com to get 10% off your entire order In this Episode, You Will Learn 00:00 Why starting something new can help you feel unstuck. 03:45 The mental health benefits of walking with friends. 08:35 Why invisible mental health struggles feel more isolating. 11:00 What workplaces still misunderstand about neurodiversity. 16:15 How physical limitations forced Dan to think more creatively. 19:15 Why uncertainty and unpredictability increase anxiety at work. 22:30 Why does modern life making you less resilient? 24:15 How layoffs and workplace uncertainty create learned helplessness. 29:15 The strategy performers use to stay engaged and motivated. 33:30 Why anxiety consumes your brain’s “CPU.” 36:45 Why humans look for villains during stressful times. 38:15 How negative narratives reshape the way you see people. Resources + Links Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever Watch the podcast on YouTube Find more resources on our website morraam.com Follow Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Transcript

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1:58.3	Hi, I'm Maura Aaron's Millie, host of The Anxious Achiever.
2:02.5	Today I'm going to bring you one of our most downloaded and one of my most favorite episodes
2:07.3	from our archives.
2:09.1	It's a classic.
2:10.6	The Anxious Achiever has been at it for a long time.
2:14.1	We have over 300 episodes.
2:16.4	And honestly, they're all still more relevant than ever.
	...

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