Photo: Netflix
There’s a reason shame researcher Brené Brown is so popular. Her Ted Talk “The Power Of Vulnerability” has over 40 million views, she’s got five books that are New York Times bestsellers and her Netflix special The Call To Courage is a must watch. And it’s all because she’s studied courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy to be able to teach you how to have a life worth living.
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If you’re not quite ready to let her dismantle your armor by watching Brown’s Netflix special maybe we can help. Here are the Cliffs Notes to getting the most you can out of The Call To Courage without actually having to watch it.
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Are you willing to risk shedding your armor to live a truly great life? Let us know if this sounds too woo-hoo in the comments!
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Brene Brown The Call To Courage
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There Is No Courage Without Vulnerability
According to Brené Brown, if you want to have a good life you're going to have to risk opening up. Like this tiny lion, if you're brave with your life, you're going to get your ass kicked. But at least you lived.
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Suppressing Vulnerability Is A Huge Price To Pay
We're taught that armor is protection, but when it comes to feelings, this just isn't true. Armor gets in the way of the things we desire like love, joy, and belonging. To love is to be vulnerable, plain and simple.
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Courage Over Comfort
Vulnerability is having the courage to show up when you can't control the outcome.
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Prepare To Be Uncomfortable
Brené Brown says avoiding conversations because they make you uncomfortable is the definition of privilege. The nauseating feeling of being uncomfortable is the surest pathway to leveling up because discomfort literally leads to growth.
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Open Up And Show Yourself
You can't let yourself be loved if you can't be seen. When you make an emotional bid for connection with someone and you get pushed away, it's scary. Rejection is scary. Vulnerability is the gooey center of hard feelings like uncertainty, shame, fear, and grief. However, it's also the birthplace of the best feelings: love, joy, belonging, which is impossible to truly have if you don't share yourself with others.
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Be Willing To Fail
If what you're working for is a great payoff in this life, you're going to have to take a chance. You cannot grow or innovate without doing this. The key to achievement is accepting the possibility of failure. If you want to create, you're going to have to be vulnerable.
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The Opposite Of Belonging Is Fitting In
True belonging doesn't require you to change who you are, but simply be who you are. If you're spending all your time rehearsing who you are, what is your authentic self and how can people ever like you, if you refuse to expose that part of your personality?
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Stop Working Your Shit Out On Other People
Talk to people instead of about them. Lean into tough conversations because brave people are never silent around hard things. And you want to be truly brave, don't you?
