We're told that if we want to change who we are, we just need to change our habits, our environment and the way we think.
But what if parts of who you are were there long before you ever had a choice?
In this episode I sit down with Dr. Nancy Segal, a leading twin researcher, psychologist, author and founder of the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, to explore what decades of twin research can teach us about who we really are, and how much of ourselves we can actually change.
We talk about why roughly half of the differences in personality across people are linked to genetic differences, why people tend to return toward their characteristic personality and happiness levels, how motivation and persistence can be partly influenced by genetics, and why achieving the thing you thought would finally make you happy can still leave you feeling empty.
We also explore what identical twins reveal about human behaviour, the extraordinary bond between twins, what happens when that bond is lost, why our environments still matter enormously, and how understanding our predispositions can actually help us make better choices rather than become trapped by them.
But underneath the science, this conversation is about something much more personal.
Why we keep returning to certain patterns even when we desperately want to change. How much of ourselves we need to accept. And where our responsibility to create a different life begins.
Because you may not be able to completely transform who you are. But you can understand yourself, modify what isn't serving you, change your environment, and make more of the potential that's already there.
Dr. Nancy Segal is a psychologist, author and internationally recognized expert on twins. She founded and directs the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, and has spent decades studying what twins can teach us about genetics, environment, personality, relationships and human behaviour.
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(00:00) Introduction: Can We Change Ourselves?
(00:34) Twin Identity Differences
(01:20) Nature Nurture Explained
(03:35) Personality Set Points
(05:18) Engineering Happiness
(07:52) Motivation Genes And Drive
(10:01) Success High Then Empty
(12:04) Finding Meaningful Pursuits
(15:13) Nancy Segal Origin Story
(18:42) Twin Research For Everyone
(23:27) Unexpected Twin Casework
(25:07) Suicide And Twin Loss
(28:24) Twin Telepathy Myth
(29:07) Twins In Sports
(29:37) Grief After Twin Loss
(31:22) Twin Loss Gets Attention
(32:11) Lessons From Twin Studies
(36:07) Risk Taking And Change
(38:08) Olympic Twin Advantage
(39:14) Competition Without Jealousy
(42:18) Biracial Twins And Tolerance
(43:41) Baby Steps To Change
(48:05) Support Groups And Holocaust Twins
(49:53) Where To Find Nancy
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