Leap Before You’re Pushed
Susan Filan on identity, reinvention, and redefining success
In this powerful and deeply human episode of Thrive & Achieve, Susan Filan — former prosecutor, MSNBC Senior Legal Analyst, and now keynote speaker and life strategist — shares how a near-fatal accident stripped away every role she thought defined her… and revealed what actually matters.
This is not a story about starting over lightly.
It’s a story about waking up before you’re pushed.
In this episode, we explore:
- Why career success and personal identity often get dangerously intertwined
- How Susan went from high-stakes courtroom battles to a complete life and career reinvention
- What a near-death experience taught her about love, meaning, and real success
- Why burnout often signals it’s time to play on a bigger stage, not a smaller one
- The idea that you cannot thwart your soul’s destiny — only delay it
- What “leap before you’re pushed” really means (and why it does not mean quitting your job)
- How neuroscience and habit formation show the brain is trainable — even after trauma
- The role of fear, ego, and identity in keeping professionals stuck
- Why money matters — but makes a terrible god
- How to reconnect logic and intuition so they work together, not against each other
Key insights you’ll take away:
- You are not your title, your résumé, your income, or your accomplishments
- Waiting until crisis removes leverage — in your career and your finances
- Optionality is built in calm moments, not emergencies
- Ignoring the inner signal leads to louder wake-up calls
- Gratitude, presence, and love aren’t “soft skills” — they’re stabilizing forces
Susan also shares practical ways professionals can reconnect with themselves without needing a traumatic event — including simple practices around awareness, breath, attention, and asking better questions of themselves.
Why this episode matters:
Many professionals are succeeding on paper — but quietly drifting away from themselves.
This conversation is an invitation to pause, listen, and choose intentionally:
- before burnout decides for you
- before financial pressure narrows your choices
- before life delivers a wake-up call you didn’t ask for
About the guest:
Susan Filan is a former prosecutor, senior legal analyst for MSNBC, and nationally recognized trial attorney who has litigated some of the highest-stakes cases imaginable. Today, she brings together legal rigor, neuroscience, and spiritual insight as a keynote speaker focused on resilience, purpose, and conscious leadership.
Connect with Susan:
Website: SusanFilan.com
Email: sfilan@gmail.com
