Daring Greatly

Overcoming Shame by Becoming Vulnerable

Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity.

The illusion of invulnerability undermines the very response that would have supplied genuine protection.

Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.

Trust is built one marble at a time.

Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it's understanding the necessity of both; it's engaging. It's being all in.

When we spend our lives waiting until we're perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable.

Scarcity is the 'never enough' problem.

When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary.

Perfectionism is a twenty-ton shield that we lug around, thinking it will protect us, when in fact it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from being seen.

Hope is a function of struggle. If we want our children to develop high levels of hopefulness, we have to let them struggle.

Daring greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.

Who we are and how we engage with the world are much stronger predictors of how our children will do than what we know about parenting.

Empathy is the antidote to shame.

Wholehearted parenting is about engaging with our children from a place of worthiness.

Shame derives its power from being unspeakable. If we cultivate enough awareness about shame to name it and speak to it, we’ve basically cut it off at the knees.

If you asked us today what we believe is the key to our relationship, the answer would be vulnerability, love, humor, respect, shame-free fighting, and blame-free living.

We can only love others as much as we love ourselves.

If we’re going to find our way out of shame and back to each other, vulnerability is the path and courage is the light.

The most valuable and important things in my life came to me when I cultivated the courage to be vulnerable, imperfect, and self-compassionate.

If we want our children to love and accept who they are, our job is to love and accept who we are.

Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.

Vulnerability is the core of all emotions and feelings. To feel is to be vulnerable.

Scarcity thrives in a culture where everyone is hyperaware of lack.

When shame becomes a management style, engagement dies.

The opposite of scarcity is enough, or what I call Wholeheartedness.

Disengagement triggers shame and our greatest fears—the fears of being abandoned, unworthy, and unlovable.

Shame resilience is about moving from shame to empathy—the real antidote to shame.

Look perfect. Do perfect. Be perfect. Anything less than that is shaming.

We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known.

Softenin g into the j oyful moments of our lives requires vulnerability.

Gratitude, therefore, emerged from the data as the antidote to foreboding joy.

Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving for excellence. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth.

We disengage to protect ourselves from vulnerability, shame, and feeling lost and without purpose.

Without feedback there can be no transformative change.

Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.

Vulnerability is not a weakness: Brown challenges the notion that vulnerability is a sign of weakness. Instead, she argues that vulnerability is the birthplace of courage, innovation, and creativity. It is about embracing uncertainty and taking risks, allowing us to experience deep connections and authenticity.

Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.