Brian Lowery on How You Discover Your Authentic Self

Episode 330

We live in a world constantly telling us to “be ourselves.” But what if we don’t fully know who that is?

In this deeply illuminating conversation, John R. Miles sits down with Brian Lowery, Stanford professor and author of SELFLESS: The Social Creation of ‘You’, to explore one of the most important and misunderstood journeys we’ll ever take: the search for self.

This episode challenges the myth that your identity is fixed, solitary, or found by simply looking inward. Instead, Brian helps us understand that our sense of self is shaped by the people around us—our relationships, our roles, our communities.

And while that might sound limiting, it’s actually liberating.

Because when we begin to see identity as something dynamic and socially created, we gain the power to reshape it with intention—choosing who we become, not just defaulting to who we’ve been told to be.

In this conversation, you’ll learn: