#418 Vulnerability Hangovers

Brené Brown tells us that what we all really want from other people is for them to be authentic. And that means we need them to be vulnerable.

And…

Guess what the last thing is that any of us actually want to be?

Yep.

You guessed it.

Vulnerable.

Which (laughing) presents a little issue in our quest to create authentic relationships. The very thing we want (and need!) from one another is the thing we have the hardest time giving.

Which leads us to Today’s +1.

Have you ever really put yourself out there and boldly expressed the best version of you and then woke up the next day wondering what in the world you were thinking?

(Laughing. Me, too. Too many times to count. 🤡)

Brené calls that a “vulnerability hangover.” (Hah!)

And, she tells us about one of her biggest hangovers. With beautiful irony, she tells us about the day she gave a little (local) TEDx Talk on her research on shame and vulnerability. She really put herself out there, sharing her own challenges and struggles.

She felt pretty good as she was giving the talk but woke up the next day FREAKED OUT that she’d told the audience about her nervous breakdown and other personal details of her life. 😳

The talk was, of course, filmed. She immediately started imagining calling the organizers and having them delete the talk. If that didn’t work maybe she could somehow get it off the servers. There’s no way, she thought, that she could endure having a couple hundred MORE people see her in such a vulnerable state.

Fast-forward a few years and TENS OF MILLIONS of people have benefited from Brené’s willingness to dare greatly and share her authentic, vulnerable self.

Which leads us back to YOU and the practical side of our work together today.

Challenge: How can you be even more authentically alive today? Let’s stay grounded (of course!) and see if we can (wisely) be a little more vulnerable today.

And, if you wake up tomorrow with a little vulnerability hangover, remind yourself that that feeling is a REVERSE INDICATOR. It’s a sign that something’s RIGHT not wrong.

Here’s to you being you. All of you.

+1. +1. +1.