Identity is where the personal and the political meet. As a Chinese American man, a former elite athlete, and a new father, I think a lot about how the categories we belong to shape the way we move through the world — and how we can hold those identities without being held captive by them.
These articles explore masculinity, race, parenthood, aging, and the cultural forces that shape what we think we're supposed to want. They're personal but grounded in research, and they're meant to help you think more clearly about who you are and who you're becoming.
Masculinity & Manhood
- How Masculine Ideals Affect Resilience — How rigid masculinity norms undermine the flexibility that resilience requires
- Manhood and Fatherhood — Rethink what masculinity looks like when you become an actively involved parent
- Take Pride: Book Notes — Distinguish between authentic and hubristic pride using Jessica Tracy's research
- Brett Kavanaugh's Resilience (Or Lack Thereof) — A public case study of masculinity, power, and selective resilience
Race & Belonging
- With Softness and Power — Hold complexity as an Asian American navigating between strength and vulnerability
- Drivers of Asian Hate — The structural and cultural forces behind anti-Asian violence
- Embrace Your Child's Struggle — Rethink the immigrant-parent instinct to remove all obstacles from your child's path
Fatherhood & Family
- I'm Your Daddy — A raw, unfiltered snapshot of the first week of becoming a father
- A Brief Interlude — How the arrival of a daughter reframed everything about identity and purpose
- The New Thirty — Challenge outdated expectations about when and how adulthood is supposed to unfold
Self-Knowledge & Growth
- Finding Your Edge — Locate the identity boundary where growth actually happens
- The Conformity Trap — Resist the cultural pressure to become a blander version of yourself
- Dark Horse — Pursue the unconventional path that matches who you actually are
- Turning 36: Lessons Learned — Take stock of how identity shifts as you move through your thirties
- Don't Be a Hungry Ghost — Escape the cultural trap of chasing achievements that never actually fulfill you
Identity and belonging are central to my coaching work. If you're wrestling with who you are and what you want, let's talk at jasonshen.com/coaching.