The Gifts of Imperfection

By Brene Brown

Each day we face a barrage of images and messages from society and the media telling us who, what, and how we should be. We are led to believe that if we could only look perfect and lead perfect lives, we’d no longer feel inadequate. So most of us perform, please, and perfect, all the while thinking, “What if I can’t keep all of these balls in the air? Why isn’t everyone else working harder and living up to my expectations? What will people think if I fail or give up? When can I stop proving myself?”

In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown, PhD, a leading expert on shame, authenticity and belonging, shares what she’s learned from a decade of research on the power of Wholehearted Living—a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.

In her ten guideposts, Brown engages our minds, hearts, and spirits as she explores how we can cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, “no matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough,” and to go to bed thinking, “Yes, I am sometimes afraid, but I am also brave. And yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am worthy of love and belonging.”

Brene Brown is one of my favorite authors for self-help and research. She just turns things on their heads and helps you see things from a totally different perspective. I loved her book “Daring Greatly” which focused a lot on shame resilience and vulnerability and how it was a good thing. In this book she focuses mostly on Women and how imperfection is truly a gift and how to accept yourself whole-heartedly and live the truth that you are enough and your worth doesn’t depend on how much you get done in a day or what others think of you or even what you believe about yourself. It’s a book about loving yourself and giving yourself a break. I really enjoyed it, but still prefer “Daring Greatly”. Brene Brown does a few TED talks that are definitely worth watching too. like this one: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o

I give it a 3.5 out of 5

Daring Greatly

By Brene Brown

“It is not the critic who counts; nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;…who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.

In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection.

This was one of the most helpful and insightful reads I had the past year, and I’ve found myself thinking about it with increasing frequency. This is a book about vulnerability. It’s about all the times that we as human beings feel awkward, uncertain, and exposed, and why it stops us in our relationships, our jobs, our lives, and why it shouldn’t. I’m starting to look at my own vulnerability in new ways, and by accepting my own feelings of vulnerability I have had the courage to dare greatly in new ways I never thought I would by being open and honest and realizing that vulnerability is not the same as weakness. This book is amazing at opening your perspective and I can’t recommend it enough to those of you who enjoy taking a deeper look into your lives (you introverts out there are piqued huh?) and finding a braver way to live your life and be happy in your choices.

This gets a 4 out of 5