Chasing My Hero cover art

Chasing My Hero

Chasing My Hero

Written by: Debbah Dounia
Listen for free

About this listen

"And to my hero, that's who I chase. When I was 15, a very important person asked me, 'Who's your hero?' I said, 'I don't know. I gotta think about that. Give me a couple of weeks.' Two weeks later, this person asked again, 'Who's your hero?' I said, 'I thought about it. You know who it is? It's me in 10 years.'" - Matthew McConaughey, Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Welcome to the biggest journey of our lives. It's time to move beyond thinking and hoping. Today, we start acting, experimenting, learning, and doing it all over again. This is about chasing our heroes.

This podcast isn't just about success; it's about growing enough to understand what success means to us and knowing when to settle. It's about building a future we’re happy with and understanding what’s best for us.

It's about thinking differently and being bold enough to fully embrace our lives, talents, and opportunities. It’s about refusing to half-ass our lives, choosing instead to live with passion and purpose.

Join us as we embark on this incredible journey, chasing our heroes and creating the life we've always dreamed of.

Chasing My Hero
Economics
Episodes
  • #16 When Breath Becomes Air
    Jan 8 2026

    In this episode, we explore 12 unforgettable lessons from Paul Kalanithi’s masterpiece When Breath Becomes Air.

    A story written at the edge of life — where a brilliant neurosurgeon becomes a patient, where fear turns into clarity, where love deepens, where meaning becomes urgent.

    Through my own letters, reflections, and the emotional struggles I lived this year, we dive into:

    • What it means to be mortal
    • How illness transforms identity
    • Why meaning matters more than career
    • How medicine breaks you and heals you
    • What love looks like when life is fragile
    • And ultimately… what death teaches us about living

    This episode is raw, personal, and filled with the most powerful insights I’ve ever shared.

    ⏱ TIMESTAMPS

    0:00 – Intro

    02:14 — Lesson 1: When your worst fear becomes reality

    07:18 — Lesson 2: Choosing meaning over a career

    11:20 — Lesson 3: Identity And Feeling Lost

    14:43 — Lesson 4: The chaos and beauty of medicine

    29:34 — Lesson 5: Families, suffering, and truth

    36:10 — Lesson 6: What makes a good doctor

    41:17— Lesson 7: Hardship as a teacher

    46:34— Lesson 8: The parent I want to become

    47:47 — Lesson 9: Love in the face of death

    54:39 — Lesson 10: Fear, confusion, and Sickness

    1:05:05 — Lesson 11: Learning to notice the present moment

    1:10:35 — Lesson 12: Death — the lesson we avoid, the lesson we need

    1:14:26 — Final reflections

    📚 RESOURCES & MENTIONS

    • When Breath Becomes Air — Paul Kalanithi
    • Stanford Medicine articles on Paul Kalanithi
    • His wife Lucy Kalanithi’s TED Talk
    • My personal letters & reflections (as shared in the episode)

    Follow me on Social Media:

    1. On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dounia-debbah-5ba3b720b?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
    2. On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dounia_dbh_bip?igsh=cXJidTd3cGxjcDdy&utm_source=qr
    3. On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@douniadbhbip?_t=8oldi9r0xcr&_r=1
    4. On Youtube: https://youtube.com/@chasingmyheropodcast-l5x?si=H1ZZGH5rb87qDMdx
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 19 mins
  • #15 Silence, Memory, and the Promise to Become Someone
    Oct 16 2025

    Some people come into our lives without warning — and disappear just as quietly. Friends, crushes, mentors, strangers we swore we’d never forget. We don’t always get closure. We don’t always get to say goodbye.

    But in the empty space they leave behind… something else begins to take form.

    In this episode, I share letters I wrote to my future self — about the people I cared for, the ones I lost, the ones I never reached out to… and the quiet fear of being the only one who still remembers.

    And from that heartbreak, I trace the path toward something deeper: great work. The kind of work that outlives us. The kind of work we build after we’ve let go — or been forced to.

    This is an episode about:

    • Missing people you’ll never see again
    • Learning when to hold on and when to release
    • Choosing purpose over nostalgia
    • And what it really means to create something that matters

    If you've ever missed someone in silence — or felt the ache of wanting to become someone greater than your circumstances — this one’s for you.

    ⏱ TIMESTAMPS

    0:00 – Letters About the people who vanish without goodbye

    5:30 – Turning to work when connection fades

    11:40 – Lessons From H0w To Do Great Work By Paul Graham

    35:25 – What it means to “Be Ready”

    📚 RESOURCES & MENTIONS

    • Founders Podcast – Episode on Phil Knight
    • Elon Musk’s Algorithm (from Walter Isaacson’s biography)
    • Paul Graham – “How to Do Great Work”
    • Quote by Norman Vincent Peale
    • CRISPR-Cas9 (Jennifer Doudna & Emmanuelle Charpentier)
    • Apple design inspirations

    Follow me on Social Media:

    1. On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dounia-debbah-5ba3b720b?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
    2. On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dounia_dbh_bip?igsh=cXJidTd3cGxjcDdy&utm_source=qr
    3. On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@douniadbhbip?_t=8oldi9r0xcr&_r=1
    4. On Youtube: https://youtube.com/@chasingmyheropodcast-l5x?si=H1ZZGH5rb87qDMdx
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
  • #14 Dreams, Doubts, and the Debt We Owe to Others
    Sep 4 2025

    Episode Description:

    In this episode, I share the story of the exam that freed me, my first time in London, and the deep questions I still face about the future — should I stay close to family in Algeria, or chase knowledge and growth abroad? Along the way, I explore Robert Cialdini’s principle of reciprocation from his book Influence, and how it shapes the way we give, belong, and build our lives.

    Timestamps:

    00:00 – Introduction: Passing the exam & the feeling of freedom

    07:00 – Lessons from London: Belonging, growth, and inspiration

    15:23 – Influence

    27:00 Reciprocation: What giving and receiving really mean

    39:50 – One last Letter

    38:00 – Closing thoughts and gratitude

    Sources Mentioned:

    • Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Chapter on Reciprocation)
    • Personal notes & letters

    Follow me on Social Media:

    1. On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dounia-debbah-5ba3b720b?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
    2. On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dounia_dbh_bip?igsh=cXJidTd3cGxjcDdy&utm_source=qr
    3. On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@douniadbhbip?_t=8oldi9r0xcr&_r=1
    4. On Youtube: https://youtube.com/@chasingmyheropodcast-l5x?si=H1ZZGH5rb87qDMdx
    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
No reviews yet