Book Byte #239 "Rising Strong" by Brene Brown
How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
📣 Curious Quotes from the Author
“Compassionate people ask for what they need. They say no when they need to, and when they say yes, they mean it. They're compassionate because their boundaries keep them out of resentment.”
“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”
“Just because someone isn’t willing or able to love us, it doesn’t mean that we are unlovable.”
“There are too many people today who instead of feeling hurt are acting out their hurt; instead of acknowledging pain, they’re inflicting pain on others. Rather than risking feeling disappointed, they’re choosing to live disappointed. Emotional stoicism is not badassery. Blustery posturing is not badassery. Swagger is not badassery. Perfection is about the furthest thing in the world from badassery.”
“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.”
“The opposite of recognizing that we’re feeling something is denying our emotions. The opposite of being curious is disengaging. When we deny our stories and disengage from tough emotions, they don’t go away; instead, they own us, they define us. Our job is not to deny the story, but to defy the ending—to rise strong, recognize our story, and rumble with the truth until we get to a place where we think, Yes. This is what happened. This is my truth. And I will choose how this story ends.”
“I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time. Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”
“Steve said, “I don’t know. I really don’t. All I know is that my life is better when I assume that people are doing their best. It keeps me out of judgment and lets me focus on what is, and not what should or could be.” His answer felt like truth to me. Not an easy truth, but truth.”
“We don't have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to.”
“...sometimes when we are beating ourselves up, we need to stop and say to that harassing voice inside, "Man, I'm doing the very best I can right now."
“C. S. Lewis captured this so beautifully in one of my favorite quotes of all time: To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
“People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
📚 Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea
There are three steps to rising strong: reckoning, rumbling, and revolution. Recognizing one's own emotions and developing an interest in them are necessary steps in the reckoning. In order to understand ourselves better, rumbling is all about challenging the narratives we tell. And lastly, the revolution is the essential shift we go through when we get back up, braver and more self-assured than before!
Join your team in rumbling!
As demonstrated, the rising-strong process can be applied to groups as well as individuals. Here are some questions that are particularly useful in an organizational setting to assist make this process more precise:
What feelings are the members of our team feeling?
What should pique our curiosity?
What tales do the members of the squad have about failure?
What can we learn about communication, team culture, and relationships within the team from these stories? Which lessons are most important? How then do we apply these important lessons? Your team will become more cohesive if you provide thoughtful answers to these issues.
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Try out the "Think and Grow Rich Challenge" by Russell Brunson and Learn more about the First Self Help Author Napoleon Hill