"Anchor identity to values, not roles that can be stripped away The hosts discussed people who collapse emotionally when a core role disappears — the parent whose children leave home, the athlete who can no longer compete, the professional who loses their career — and noted that the divorce rate spikes when couples who "identified only as a dad or a mom" suddenly lose that daily function. One host explained that making any external role your ultimate identity is dangerous because "all the stuff here is fleeting" and those roles can be stripped from you at any time, sometimes through no fault of your own. A more resilient approach is to treat roles like father, athlete, or professional as things you do and do well, without making them the entire foundation of who you are, so that losing one does not erase your sense of self. Source: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Mind Pump Podcast, Blue Collar Fitness & Scale Weight Pitfalls"