Becoming You with Suzy Welch

Fear of change is powerful. But the deepest fear of all may be this: the fear of stepping into a life that is fully our own. In the final episode of the three-part Be Not Afraid series, your host Suzy Welch shares a deeply personal story about loss, identity, and the moment when fear gives way to decision.

The episode revisits one of the podcast’s most intimate stories — one that longtime listeners will remember well — about a solitary swan who appeared at Suzy’s home, shortly after the death of her husband. The two formed an unusual bond, each navigating life alone after years of partnership. Then one day, the swan disappeared.

Her departure became a powerful metaphor for something many people face but rarely name: the moment when the life we knew is gone, and the future depends on choices we are not yet sure we’re ready to make. Drawing on her own experience of grief and reinvention, Suzy explores the quiet but critical turning point that follows self-discovery — the decision to act. 

Because growth does not happen by accident. Reinvention does not happen by accident. Becoming does not happen by accident. It happens when we decide. This episode concludes the Be Not Afraid series with a simple but challenging question: Are you waiting for life to change… or are you ready to begin again?

Missed the Suzy the Swan story? Catch up here:


Thinking of Pursuing Your Passion as a Career? Please Think Again.


If You Knew Suzy...The Swan, That Is...

Take the Becoming You Three-Day Intensive course this May on NYU’s campus, here.

The Values Bridge digital assessment is available at ⁠thevaluesbridge.com⁠

PIE360 Feedback tool is available at ⁠pie360feedback.com⁠

Want more Becoming You? Check out the ⁠Becoming You book⁠.

You are always growing and evolving and so are we. Sign up for the ⁠Becoming You newsletter⁠ for fresh new content in one tidy package.

You can follow and tag Suzy on:

• Instagram: ⁠@suzywelch⁠

• Linkedin: ⁠@suzywelch⁠

• TikTok: ⁠@suzywelch⁠

• YouTube: ⁠@suzywelch_⁠

• X: ⁠@SuzyWelch⁠


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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 — and yet understanding that gap can be the beginning of real freedom.

Because the truth about ourselves can be uncomfortable. But avoiding it comes at a far greater cost. And sometimes, the moment we finally face it brings something we’ve longed for: relief.

The Values Bridge digital assessment is available at thevaluesbridge.comPIE360 Feedback tool is available at pie360feedback.comWant more Becoming You? Check out the Becoming You book.You are always growing and evolving and so are we. Sign up for the Becoming You newsletter for fresh new content in one tidy package.

You can follow and tag Suzy on:

Instagram: @suzywelch

Linkedin: @suzywelch

TikTok: @suzywelch

YouTube: @suzywelch_

X: @SuzyWelch

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fear of the unknown gets a lot of attention. But the deeper fear — the one that quietly shapes our careers and lives — is something else entirely. The fear of knowing ourselves.

In this first episode of a three-part series on fear and self-discovery, your host Suzy Welch explores why so many people avoid looking closely at who they really are — and what they truly want. Drawing inspiration from the iconic film “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” Suzy examines the psychological reality behind what researchers call information avoidance: our tendency to avoid truths that might force us to change.

She tackles a question from podcast listener Katie, who took a brave step after decades of professional success: a sabbatical to reassess her life and career. Now she faces a dilemma many people share — should she admit that she took a sabbatical on her resume, or hide it from potential employers?

This episode kicks off a three-part “Be Not Afraid” series on the courage it takes to change your life from the inside out. Because the truth is simple: If you don’t stop to ask who you are… life will eventually force the question. And the sooner you ask it, the better.

The Values Bridge digital assessment is available at thevaluesbridge.comPIE360 Feedback tool is available at pie360feedback.comWant more Becoming You? Check out the Becoming You book.You are always growing and evolving and so are we. Sign up for the Becoming You newsletter for fresh new content in one tidy package.
 
You can follow and tag Suzy on:

Instagram: @suzywelch

Linkedin: @suzywelch

TikTok: @suzywelch

YouTube: @suzywelch_

X: @SuzyWelch


To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the real risk isn’t oversharing…but undersharing?

We spend so much energy worrying about saying too much – about TMI, about revealing something we might later regret. But in the process, many of us end up living with more unsaid than said, and with more authentic moments missed than taken.

On this counterintuitive (and hilarious) episode of Becoming You, host Suzy Welch speaks with Harvard professor Leslie John about the underrated power of oversharing and her new book “Revealing.”

The conversation explores what the Becoming You methodology calls an authenticity gap in the value of Voice – the distance between how much we value self-expression and how much we actually practice it. When should you reveal more of your inner world? How can revealing more build trust, deepen connection, and help you live more authentically? And what is the true cost of silence?

Oversharing isn’t the enemy. Neither is restraint. The real skill is learning how to reveal in a way that serves both you and the people around you. This conversation is about Voice, about closing the gap between what you value and how you live, and about practicing self-expression as a learnable skill.

And yes, you’ll hear a few oversharing stories that may make you rethink exactly where the line is.

The Values Bridge digital assessment is available at thevaluesbridge.comPIE360 Feedback tool is available at pie360feedback.comWant more Becoming You? Check out the Becoming You book.You are always growing and evolving and so are we. Sign up for the Becoming You newsletter for fresh new content in one tidy package.
 
You can follow and tag Suzy on:

Instagram: @suzywelch

Linkedin: @suzywelch

TikTok: @suzywelch

YouTube: @suzywelch_

X: @SuzyWelch


To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You’ve heard it a thousand times: What’s your why? Your purpose, your North Star, where your best life is hiding. But what if the “why” question isn’t the one that actually gets you unstuck?

In this special episode, your host Suzy Welch hears from the global community of certified Becoming You coaches about the questions they use to jumpstart purpose-seeking clients. Their answers are nothing short of revelatory. 

Suzy introduces three of the most powerful questions, designed to unlock forward motion when you’re feeling stuck, stalled, or secretly longing for something more. And yes, one of the questions may or may not be about dogs – but not in the way you’d think. 

This is not a fluffy “find your passion” conversation. It’s a practical, sometimes uncomfortable excavation of what’s really stopping you — and what might finally set you free. If you’ve been circling the question of purpose but not making progress, this episode offers three new entry points. Forget your why. Start here.

The Values Bridge digital assessment is available at thevaluesbridge.comPIE360 Feedback tool is available at pie360feedback.comWant more Becoming You? Check out the Becoming You book.You are always growing and evolving and so are we. Sign up for the Becoming You newsletter for fresh new content in one tidy package.
 
You can follow and tag Suzy on:

Instagram: @suzywelch

Linkedin: @suzywelch

TikTok: @suzywelch

YouTube: @suzywelch_

X: @SuzyWelch


To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices