Review: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So I'm pretty pleased to have started my '2018 self development challenge' with an utterly captivating, thought-provoking, soul-searching, five-star read.

This book is just so damn relevant .

We all experience shame and vulnerability.

That seems like such an obvious concept but it took reading this book for me to properly understand that. I'm going to get pretty real here: I struggle a lot with feeling like I'm not worthy, or like I'm not good enough because I can't keep up with peers in certain areas or because I do things differently to most. I see people who seem to have everything going for them: attractive, fit, healthy, great friends, good job ... etc. The notion that these people might experience the same feelings of unworthiness and shame in areas of their own lives just blows my mind. Yet this is something I've read about countless times - 'The grass is greener ...' and all that. I know that no one is living the perfect life of all sunshine and rainbows, but I still feel shame for not measuring up. I practice gratitude often because I know there is so much in my life that I can be thankful for - I have a strong, loving bond with my family, I have a place to live, a job to provide income, a fully functional body, friends, hobbies, knowledge ... and yet I can't help being overtaken by shame when I am in situations that make me compare myself to others. Without exception, comparing myself to those around me makes me feel vulnerable because, more often than not, I inevitably fall short of the mark I'm hoping for.

I HATE feeling vulnerable to such an extent that I really do switch off and avoid things and that made the first part of this book confronting, painful and refreshingly liberating to read.

There's a fair bit in here about the power of semantics, and how the phrases we choose to use can influence how we see ourselves and others. I love that, and I think it ties in well with other self-development/spiritual books I've read that discuss the power of the subconscious mind. There's so much of the world that we can't control, but we have overwhelming power over our own minds provided we concentrate on exercising it.

Daring Greatly is not about doing heroic, extravagant things; it's about having the courage to be true to yourself, and to be unashamed of who you are as a person . It's about not shying away from your vulnerability but embracing it, and using it to develop and grow.

We all experience shame and vulnerability.

By acknowledging this shared trait, we can take comfort in knowing we are not alone. We can work harder to accept ourselves so that our unconscious words and actions communicate positivity, love and acceptance to those around us. We can appreciate the vulnerability of others because we have a greater understanding of how it drives our own thoughts and actions.

This book is written eloquently yet simply, so that the message is communicated without a need to unravel chunks of metaphors and similes first. It uses honest examples - and I'll admit, a few of these really got to me. There is so much about shame and vulnerability that needs to be understood because I hadn't realised until reading this book what a massive impact the two have had on my life.

This book will not teach you how to abolish vulnerability from your life. Rather, it will teach you, as the title suggests, how the courage to be vulnerable will allow you to live a more fulfilling, wholehearted lifestyle.

Honestly, I can't think of a single person who wouldn't benefit from reading this book. It's utterly compelling and so incredibly wise and honest. Brene Brown infuses the ideas with personal stories, both from her research and from her own life, and it gives her enormous credibility because, as readers, we can plainly see that she is teaching from a place of true understanding and experience.

I loved all of it, and I'm not even a parent (nor anywhere close to becoming one) so don't let that part of the title put you off.

I not only highly recommend but implore you to read this, so that we can change the world one mind at a time, beginning with ourselves.

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