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My favorite Brene Brown book is The Gifts of Imperfection.
But, I love all of her books. Her work on shame, authenticity, vulnerability, courage and connection are so relevant to my life and my work. I’ve learned so much from her!
So in this episode of Real, Brave, & Unstoppable, I’m share some of my favorite quotes and ideas from Brene’s work.
I’ll recap here.
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.”
It is brave because when we own our story, because we have to also own the things that we don’t necessarily like about ourselves. So to be able to own ALL of it and know that it’s just a part of you and it’s okay. It’s also really brave to allow those parts of you without them determining your worthiness.
“The universe is not short on wake up calls. We’re just quick to hit the snooze button.”
As Oprah says, the Universe is always whispering to us. And if we don’t hear the whispers, it just keeps trying to get our attention. Sometimes in the form of a good old whack across the head with a two-by-four!
I know my life has been like that… I always seem to learn the hard way! How about you?
“Next one courage sounds great, but we need to talk about how it requires us to let go of what other people think. And for most of us, that’s scary.”
Totally.
Courage does sound great. I talk about this a lot. Courage sounds really noble and romantic and great, but courage is not comfortable. Courage requires us to feel not good sometimes! And courage does require us to let go of what other people think.
Courage requires us to be authentic and own our stories. To show up as who we are and who we’re meant to be. That can definitely be scary. It goes back to the last quote. When you’re not trading your authenticity for approval there is risk that people won’t approve of you. There is risk of judgment, criticism, and failure.
“Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be accepted. Belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.”
That quote is so juicy!
I’m a person who has tried to fit in for my entire life. I call it “chameleon syndrome” or “shape-shifting”.
Basically, whatever group of people I was in, I’d sense who I needed to be in that situation to feel like I fit in. So I got to a certain point in my life where I just didn’t even really know who I was anymore. I had spent my whole life trying to gain approval from others and I forgot to be who I really am.
“True belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world. Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self acceptance.”
You can “fit in” all you want, but you’re not going to feel like you belong, which is actually the feeling you’re seeking. You’re never going to feel a sense of belonging unless you actually accept yourself for who you are.
Pretty good stuff.
“The greatest challenge for most of us is believing we’re worthy right now.”
Right now. You don’t have to lose 10 pounds or finish your degree. You don’t need to find a boyfriend or a husband or own a house. You are perfect and worthy right now. Just as you are.
“Authenticity is a collection of choices we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice, to be honest, the choice to let our true selves be seen.”
Being yourself is not always comfortable. It’s scary to think about the possibility that we may not be accepted or that we may be judged or fail at something. As such, being authentic requires us to make that choice over and over again.
We have to decide to show up and be seen as the person we truly are. That’s also where true connection and the feeling of belonging happen.
There are a bunch more that I talk about on the podcast, so take a listen and let me know what resonated for you!
Where do YOU struggle to show up and be seen? Let’s chat about it!
Schedule a free clarity session with me. You’ll gain tons of insight on the call and I can give you my ideas for how you can incorporate more of your truth into your life!
Just reach out by filling out the contact form HERE.
