“When you change yourself, you change the world.” That’s the last line of award-winning researcher and transformational speaker Mary Poffenroth, Ph.D.’s groundbreaking book “Brave New You: Strategies, Tools, and Neurohacks to Live More Courageously Every Day,” which hit stores last month.

Poffenroth’s book not only explains the physiological and mental aspects of fear but also provides readers with a large selection of tools, or “neurohacks,” to live more courageously every day. Built from her own personal experience and years of multidisciplinary research, “Brave New You” entertains while it transforms.

How Poffenroth Broke Out of a Life of Fear

Poffenroth’s inspiration for “Brave New You” springs from a deeply personal place. She grew up in a toxic environment where fear was the rule, not the exception.

“I was adopted at birth by my maternal grandmother, whom I call Momma Helen, and her husband, Les,” Poffenroth writes. “At 16 years old, my birth mother was a child herself and already struggling to raise her first son. So, when Momma Helen and Les lost their toddler son to a swimming accident, adopting me seemed like a perfect balm to their grief. However, just three months after I was adopted, Les also died.”

These tragedies had a traumatic impact on Momma Helen, who raised Poffenroth to be afraid of everything. “Momma Helen’s fearfulness manifested in many troubling ways, but one of the most damaging was raising me with the idea that the world is always a scary place and that to show any emotion other than happiness was a weakness,” she writes.

As a result, Poffenroth suffered from low emotional intelligence into adulthood. Despite becoming a highly successful scientist who worked at NASA and a professor at San Jose State University, she struggled to feel whole as a person.

“If emotions were colors, it was like I had been seeing only two shades of the rainbow my whole life,” Poffenroth explains. “And though I kept telling myself those two colors were enough, inside, I knew it wasn’t true. I wanted more. So, like any good scientist, I began to study emotions to learn how to understand, feel, and express them across the entire spectrum.”

Poffenroth wrote “Brave New You” to pass the valuable information she learned on to others.

Charting a Course to a Brave New You

“The mental health crisis is upon us,” Poffenroth says. “Anxiety rates have increased sharply since 2019. Rates of depression have also grown. Underlying this crisis is fear.”

According to Poffenroth, when fear isn’t approached in the right way, it can damage people both physically and emotionally. “But the answer isn’t to become fearless, treating fear like a private, disgraceful moral failing,” she explains. “Rather, it’s a call to unlock one’s inner bravery with a deeper understanding of the nature of fear.”

“Brave New You” features science-based, proven strategies for charting a course through even the toughest inner challenges. “Our brains are not fixed — they’re capable of immense change and growth,” Poffenroth says. “Neurohacks are like cheat codes that help us update and refresh how we think, feel, and behave in response to life’s stressors. They are surprisingly easy-to-use tools that act as a compass for navigating the turbulent waters of worry, unease, and panic.”

“Brave New You” is divided into three sections, moving from awareness to knowledge to wisdom. In the first section, Reimagining Fear and Courage, readers learn they are already hardwired for bravery. Poffenroth explores the latest research on the neurobiology and psychology of fear, writing in accessible language and providing actionable tips for putting the knowledge into practice. Fear, she explains, can actually serve as your ally if you know how to approach it correctly.

The second section, The Cages of Fear, reveals the role society plays in our experience of fear and what we can do to affect positive change. For instance, marketers can purposefully intend to provoke our fear reaction, hoping it will persuade us to buy their products. Poffenroth calls this “fearonomics” and explains how even media outlets that purport to deliver the news often manufacture fear to glue eyeballs to their coverage.

The third section, The Keys to Courage, explains how to create a life in which each new day becomes an opportunity to explore, learn, and grow, unburdened by the constraints of apprehension. Poffenroth’s pillars of courageous living include embracing vulnerability, finding strength in uncertainty, cultivating self-compassion, and building healthy relationships.

Lastly, Poffenroth makes her expertise available through paid speaking engagements. She also leads corporate workshops to help teams navigate and overcome the stress and anxiety of creating a new product, undergoing a restructuring, or coping with any other change in the workplace.

Start Living the Life You’ve Always Deserved

Too many people allow fear to rule them, left only to imagine the rich, meaningful life they could lead if they found a way to escape their worries. Poffenroth has walked that exact path. With her guidance, you can stop sabotaging yourself and start living the life you’ve always deserved. 

“‘Brave New You’ speaks to the dreamer hesitant to take that first step, the overthinker trapped in a labyrinth of what-ifs, and the seekers ready to face their shadow selves,” Poffernroth says. “It’s for anyone who wants to reclaim their life.”

Published by: Martin De Juan