Daring Greatly Book Cover

Rating: 4 stars

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. The book that Dr. Brown’s many fans have been waiting for, Daring Greatly will spark a new spirit of truth—and trust—in our organizations, families, schools, and communities.

Daring Greatly gave me strength. It is a book that helped me sort through my thoughts and feelings with regards to some of the recent changes going on in my life. It helped me understand that being vulnerable is okay, acceptable even. That being vulnerable isn’t a weakness, but a person’s greatest strength in order to be open and loving towards other people.

This book was the book I needed to read after everything that happened. It not only allowed me to sort through some of my emotional feelings but opened up understanding within me.

Daring Greatly allowed me to understand many things. That being vulnerable is okay and that while being open and loving with people is hard, doing so leads you down the path of wholeheartedness. That I am brave, courageous, and all of the other things I struggle to believe I am. That I’m not alone because other people have the same doubts and fears I do.

What I loved about it is that Brown supports her hypothesis with twelve years of research on the topic. But at the same time, she uses some of her own personal experiences with shame, vulnerability and parenting to back up her years of research. She also writes in a way that makes sense to the reader so that they can understand the topic at hand.

She also writes on a variety of topics with regards to talking about vulnerability. She defines vulnerability but also talks about how both men and women experience it and the myths that surround our culture about being vulnerable. She talks about the walls we put up in order to keep vulnerability at bay and how we shrink at using that word to describe ourselves whenever we feel at our lowest.

Daring Greatly is a novel that talks about issues we as a society have a hard time being open about not only with ourselves but with the people we care about. It is a novel that challenges what we think and the way we express our emotions and feelings with the people closest to us. But it does so in a constructive way so that we can understand the way society has perceived us to feel about our emotions.

Daring Greatly is an enjoyable read that I recommend to anyone interested in opening up and interested in daring greatly.