I just finished Daring Greatly by Brene’ Brown. Brene’ has done ground-breaking work in the arenas of courage, vulnerability and shame resilience. She burst onto the scene a few years ago after a TED talk which is widely available with a quick search. I highly recommend it. At the heart of Brene’s work are daring greatly practices to contend with worthiness and the “never ______ enough” scripts that can take over (possible options “good”, “perfect”, “successful”, “powerful”, thin”, “smart”) -- you get the idea. To help us, she confronts myths of vulnerability;
it’s weakness
it’s something I just don’t do
I have to let it all hang out and
I can go it alone
She also addresses how we can overcome scarcity that feeds off of shame, comparison and disengagement. Ultimately, the courage of vulnerability is the way through uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure to live with greater clarity of purpose, meaning, hope and authenticity.
Some ideas for reflection:
What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail? What’s worth doing even if you fail?
Am I all in? What areas of my life am I holding back or possibly going it alone?
Is my self-worth tied to achievement, accomplishments or compliance?
Is worthiness truly my birthright? Do I have worthiness prerequisites? i.e. “I’ll be worthy when/if…”
Where am I truly showing up and letting myself be seen?
What is the gap between my practiced values (what I’m actually doing, thinking and feeling) and my aspirational values (what we want to do, think, and feel)? For my team, organization, family??