Name: Brave, Not Perfect
ISBN: 9780008249540

Reshma Saujani

The new Lean In, from the multi-award-winning Founder and CEO of national non-profit Girls Who Code and New York Times bestselling author Reshma Saujani.

Brave, Not Perfect

Do you ever feel crushed under the weight of your own expectations? Have you ever passed up an opportunity because you're afraid you won't immediately excel at it? Saujani shows that women are taught from an early age to play it safe, rewarded for being quiet and polite, steered to activities at which we could shine. We grow up afraid to fail, tamping down our dreams and our opportunities for happiness. Saujani shows us how to end our love affair with perfection and rewire ourselves for bravery. -- adapted from publisher info

Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder

linda

This book was great! Granted, some parts were a bit watered-down, but I loved Reshma Saujani’s message. 

I have always looked up to Reshma. We are both the children of Asian immigrant parents. Consequently, anything less than an A+ has felt like a failure. In this book, Reshma inspired me to think differently and to shift my mental image of success. 

Here are some of my takeaways from the book:
- Bravery is a muscle; the more you work it, the stronger it becomes. Start small by being more vulnerable around others, intentionally putting in a small typo, standing up for yourself. 
- Leadership looks different for everyone, especially for women and men. 
- Perfectionism does not lead to happiness nor success. Learn to celebrate each failure as an opportunity to grow. 
- How to recoup from a failure: 
1) throw a short party (Ben and Jerry’s, tv, etc.) 
2) celebrate what went right, what you gained from the process, and think about what the next chapter could be 
3) shake it off (exercise! endorphins!) 
4) review, reassess, realign; ask yourself: what happened? How did it happen? What are the real consequences? What needs to be changed, repaired, or put on track? practice gratitude and generosity 
5) try again :))

Ivy Day is next week, so this is going to come in handy :)

Yasmin S.

The author repeated herself a million times and I felt like I was reading the same page all over again. Her entire point could have been explained in way less than 200 pages.

Brave, Not Perfect

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