Susan Cain on the Book That Transformed Her Career
Like most of us, Susan Cain learned early in her life that extraversion is celebrated. As she grew up, she absorbed ideas about success and the jobs that symbolize the pinnacle of professional achievement. And so, as an introvert who loved the world of imagination, bestselling author of Quiet, Susan Cain, got a job as a Wall Street lawyer and adapted.
But this isn’t a story about fitting in. It’s the story of discovering who you really are when society’s expectations get thrown out the window.
“In life you have a few moments that are your gigantic epiphany moments, and this was one of mine.” Susan Cain
In this episode of Blinkist’s new podcast, Self? Help!, Susan Cain shares with Terence her moments of quiet revolution in cafés and bookshops, and the book that helped her on her journey to becoming a writer.
Do What You Are
- 29 min reading time
- audio version available
Hear how one person accepting her true self and pursuing the work she was made for has helped countless others around the world become who they were meant to be—and feel good about themselves along the way.
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Who’s Susan Cain?
Susan Cain is the author of the bestsellers Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts, and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, which has been translated into 40 languages, is in its seventh year on the New York Times bestseller list, and was named the #1 best book of the year by Fast Company magazine, which also named Cain one of its Most Creative People in Business. LinkedIn named her the 6th Top Influencer in the world. Her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her record-smashing TED talk has been viewed over 20 million times and was named by Bill Gates one of his all-time favorite talks. She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two sons.
Quiet
- 21 min reading time
- audio version available
Quiet Power
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
What is Self? Help!
Self? Help! is the podcast for anyone who’s thought: Who the hell am I? What in God’s name am I doing? And how did I get here of all places? Then, to figure it all out, you turned to a book—because you’re that kind of person, and so is your host, Moth Storyteller and creator of Memory Motel, Terence Mickey.
It doesn’t matter from where you seek your guidance—whether it’s Leo Tolstoy or Dr. Seuss. Terence believes that we cannot get enough help in this life and that books are, indeed, magic.
Self? Help! is made by the same people who make Blinkist, a learning app where you can read or listen to the key ideas from a nonfiction bestseller, in just about 15 minutes. You can try Blinkist for free for 14 days when you use the voucher code: cain
It takes a village to raise a podcast
Self? Help! was created and produced by Terence Mickey, with audio engineering help from Dominick Egley, and production assistance from Nat Darozhkina. Additional audio engineering and ad music by Ben Jackson and Ody Constantinou. This show could not have happened without the help of Caitlin Schiller and Ben Schuman-Stoler, hosts of Blinkist’s other much-loved podcast, Simplify. Thanks also to Joshua Phelps, Lotta Kortekallio, Hugh Brace, Natalia Piana, Justyna Kusa, Sarolta Geréb, Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher, Sarah Moriarty, Sarah Kennedy, Yerang Choi, Clément Halloo, Gloria Ciceri, Emily Phillips, Robyn Kerkhof and Therese Sivertsson.
Say hi!
Tell us what you think of this episode by dropping a line to [email protected]. Send us feedback, questions, comments, or even a wish, if that’s what floats your boat. You can Tweet at Terence directly @terence_mickey or Blinkist @blinkist. More than anything, we want to hear about the books that made a deep impact on you, personally. So please tell us, because #booksaremagic and we want to hear all about them!
Link it all together
If you’re looking for some links to click, allow us to recommend these ones:
Learn more about Susan Cain’s Quiet Revolution Watch Susan’s TED Talk
Carrie is the Managing Editor of Blinkist Magazine, and is usually found somewhere between a good book and a bad movie. Feel free to email her about all things editorial.
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