Brief Summary
Imagine if you lived without the fear of not being good enough. If you didn't care how your life looked on Instagram, or worry about what total strangers thought of you. Imagine if you could let go of the guilt, and stop beating yourself up for tiny mistakes. What if, in every decision you faced, you took the bolder path?
Too many of us feel crushed under the weight of our own expectations. We run ourselves ragged trying to please everyone, all the time. We lose sleep ruminating about whether we may have offended someone, pass up opportunities that take us out of our comfort zones, and avoid rejection at all costs.
There's a reason we act this way, Reshma 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.
The problem is that perfect girls grow 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 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, Reshma shares powerful insights and practices to help us override our perfect girl training and make bravery a lifelong habit. By being brave, not perfect, we can all become the authors of our biggest, boldest, and most joyful life.
Unidentified reader –
Combination of sweet and sour stories with life lessons for young parent’s, older parents as well. I honestly thought some of these things happen beyond our borders.
After reading my copy I bought two other copies for ladies I know just so that they’d tell me if they’ve heard similar stories and to my disbelief they know people who’ve experienced similar things.
A must read for everyone!
Rehema Zuberi –
I have a friend who is obsessed with Joan Thatiah. I was reading Joan way before I met her but feel she came and overtook me and made this loving one of her life missions. I am okay with it and entertain it. I love love people who are about a thing and show the world. One thing that sets her apart from me is while we both have the entire collection of Joan Thatiah’s work, she has the Grown Woman t-shirts. She orders the books immediately they are out and I, with a more extensive TBR, take my time and almost always order two at a go because I wait until I can remember which is almost always closer to another publication out.
My favourite thing about Joan’s books is they can be read in a single sitting. I use them every now and then to make myself feel good about myself with pushing forward my reading goals because I have to be my own cheerleader.
When I picked this collection, I thought it was going to be my usual read and go. It turned out to be one that sits with me and keep wondering where these women in Nairobi are. I am aware that these things happen: gay men in marriages, kept women, housemaids replacing wives, affairs, secrets etc etc. What I may have never thought about, is these things happening closer to home than I would expect/want. When we listen to/read stories, we view them from lenses of others rather than ourselves.
There was an issue with my copy and Joan was very prompt in ensuring I got a replacement of it.