Vulnerability is the root of all human connection and human connection is the root of all happiness. We often fail to connect because we are ashamed we are not good enough so we don't want to allow ourselves to be vulnerable. By allowing ourselves to be more vulnerable, we create a better life for ourselves.

That's the premise of Ms. Brown's book. While, I support this premise completely, and think she has done an outstanding job of researching and identifying this dynamic, it gets only two stars because there are two glaring problems with her work--or at least her presentation of it in this book.

First, if you, like me, completely buy into her deconstruction of the shame/vulnerability phenomenon, you/'re eager to hear a cogent and actionable plan or advice on exactly how to overcome this limitation. She runs out of steam when it comes to implementation. Her advice is vague, and as my daughter put it "clichéd" and "fluffy".

Second, far more importantly, I equate her solutions to the whole "trophy for showing up" phenomenon. There is a certain point where she says that success is not about achievement but about courage.

Does she really want to fly on a plane where the pilot is satisfied that they had the courage to make it through turbulence, or does she want them to also have lots and lots of competence and experience to not only make it through turbulence alive, but also to avoid it or make an easier ride? Same with a brain surgeon or a teacher.

Courage is an important starting point, but it isn't the only measure of success.

And finally, I wonder what people who are struggling with day to day existence--immigrants, people in poverty, people in war or domestic violence etc... would think of this approach. I just don't see a maid in a hotel who is being sexually harassed by her boss and worried about ICE breaking down her door and taking her family away embracing vulnerability as a solution to her problems. ( )

This book came recommended to me by a couple of friends. It contains many great ideas and spoke to me quite a bit, and I liked how Brown talked about the ways she finds it more challenging than others to dare greatly. It really emphasized that this sort of mindset is not so much a fixed mindset as it is a *practice*, and you practise every day. I also liked her appendix on how the grounded theory behind her research works; I’ve worked with researchers who used grounded theory, so reading about Brown’s experiences brought back many fond memories of the time my team and I worked together on that research.

Some of the content was surprisingly familiar; a few of the anecdotes are used to great effect in Atlas of the Heart, which I happened to read first. Brown’s writing style in this book is occasionally repetitive in a TED Talk kind of way, which isn’t really surprising given that she gives TED Talks, but it did make me kind of slide off the writing a bit. It might also have been harder for me to take in the ideas because I was reading it in ebook form rather than print. I would like to get a print copy and read it again. It’s the sort of book that would do well as a pick-up-and-dip-into-when-you-need it kind of book. I’ll probably read the rest of her books as well. ( )

This book helped me change the way I think about vulnerability and shame. It's a fantastic and entertaining read, and a wonderful self-help book. ( )

It took time to read this book because I wanted a lot of the messages to sink in better. If you love Brene Brown's TED talks you'll love this book. ( )

i didn't dislike this book, but i also didn't enjoy it as much as i wanted to. i did highlight a lot of good advice, but i don't think Brene Brown needed to take her TED Talk and turn it into a whole book. this book was fluffy as i think her message becomes more and more general as the book goes on. i didn't find it engaging ( )