Brave, Not Perfect

Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder

By: Reshma Saujani

Narrated by: Reshma Saujani

Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

International Best Seller • Inspired by her popular TED Talk, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code urges women to embrace imperfection and live a bolder, more authentic life.

"A timely message for...women of all ages: Perfection isn’t just impossible but, worse, insidious." (Angela Duckworth, best-selling author of Grit)

Imagine if you lived without the fear of not being good enough. If you didn’t care how your life looked on Instagram. If you could let go of the guilt and stop beating yourself up for making human mistakes. Imagine if, in every decision you faced, you took the bolder path?

As women, too many of us feel crushed under the weight of our own expectations. We run ourselves ragged trying to please everyone, pass up opportunities that scare us, and avoid rejection at all costs.

There’s a reason we act this way, Saujani says. As girls, we were taught to play it safe. Well-meaning parents and teachers praised us for being quiet and polite, urged us to be careful so we didn’t get hurt, and steered us to activities at which we could shine. As a result, we grew up to be women who are afraid to fail.

It’s time to stop letting our fears drown out our dreams and narrow our world, along with our chance at happiness.

By choosing bravery over perfection, we can find the power to claim our voice, to leave behind what makes us unhappy, and to go for the things we genuinely, passionately want. Perfection may set us on a path that feels safe, but bravery leads us to the one we’re authentically meant to follow. In Brave, Not Perfect, Saujani shares powerful insights and practices to help us let go of our need for perfection and make bravery a lifelong habit. By being brave, not perfect, we can all become the authors of our best and most joyful life.

©2018 Reshma Saujani (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"I love this book! A timely message for girls and women of all ages: perfection isn’t just impossible but, worse, insidious. The prose is so clear, so honest - you feel like you’re sitting across from Reshma sharing stories.” (Angela Duckworth, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, and New York Times best-selling author of Grit)

"The perfect is not just the enemy of the good; the pressure to be perfect is the enemy of girls around the world. In this courageous, convincing book, Reshma Saujani shares a bold vision to free girls - and women - from the shackles of social expectations." (Adam Grant, New York Times best-selling author of Originals, Give and Take, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg)

"For any woman who has ever thought to herself 'I just can't...' or 'I'm just not...,' this eye-opening book will help you showing up every day as brave, not perfect changes how the world sees you, but more importantly, how you see yourself - and what you are capable of. This book is great reminder that having the courage to stare your mistakes and your imperfections in the face is one of the most overlooked sources of power." (Amy Cuddy, Harvard lecturer and best-selling author of Presence)

Good for Husbands Trying Understand their Wives Better

This book helped me dig into the deeper parts of feminine psychology. It’s always been hard for me to connect with my wife to get her to embrace challenges and have confrontations with people, even when she’s right. She also gets more frustrated with things that she’s not automatically good at. And it all makes sense after reading this.

Now, hopefully I can give her some techniques for fighting through her ingrained psychology. Husbands who want to do the same, should consider reading this book. It’s easy, quick, and well written. Ms. Saujani is able to speak on difficult subjects without alienating most readers, and I’m grateful for that. It’s a good book, and I’m glad she wrote it.

Empowering!!!

I absolutely loved this read! Easy to connect with, kept me engaged, and opened my mind as to WHY women do what we do when navigating thru work, womanhood, and motherhood ♥️

Important Content for Anxious Pleasers

I liked this book. The narration is good. It is filled with important realizations. However, I do not agree with all the choices or ideas of the author like swearing; relying too much on witticisms, cliches, and oversimplifications of deeper truths; and focusing too much on materialistic values that creep into the storytelling and rationales. There are also some assumptions masquerading as truth and some claims about human behavior that are probably only small fixes that pump up some introverts to perform well temporarily before a stressed out future journey and until we find solutions of a more evolved and holistic nature (sustainable). In spite of our philosophical differences, I agree more with this author than disagree, and I found her relatable and encouraging. I enjoyed her story and her thoughts, and I am very grateful for her honesty and genuine insight she clearly demonstrates. It's also great narration. I gave this book as a gift, with no disclaimer, so while I think it's not perfect, "perfect" is not the only thing that matters when it comes to sharing and learning from experiences. It's worth the time and the money for anyone wrestling with a habit of people-pleasing, fearing criticism, and freezing before trying something new.

Wish it had more of a storyline

Saujani seems like an amazing and bright person. She has made me become bolder in the classroom but the overall storyline of the book was just eh. I wish that it had more of her life story and how she became the woman she is.

Perfect for Young Girl Power

Some good take aways. This would be a perfect read for a young girl in her early 20's.

Incredibly proud

I wasn’t expecting such an empowering, reassuring and reassessing powerhouse book. I was stunned at almost every chapter of how far I’ve come and how far I still have to go. Such an incredible book and eloquently written. I was incredibly proud of team Brave and all the women supporting one another and being a cheerleader instead of catty and shallow, breaking all stereotypes. Exercising best practices to become an authentic and genuine best version of ourselves. Its definitely a great book to have around the house as a quick read to remind the power of courage & how it can change your life and give you the strength to pivot and become better.
#teambrave.

Worth a read

Wouldn't call it a must read book, but certainly enjoyed it and found some interesting new perspectives on gender equality. i would recommend this book for new mom's, specially if raising a female.

Inspiring

Enjoyed her book - helped me get out of my comfort zone and realize that I need to fight for it.

I enjoyed this book and feel recharged

I enjoyed this book and feel recharged

Started to read this book a few days before the Supreme Court of the USA decided to change the ruling for abortion...

This book was a good reminder of when a woman gets told no what she can do.

Thx you for writing this.

Empowering food for thought

Just what I needed for starting new chapter in my life. This is up there with “ Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway “