Brene Brown is my girl crush. She’s smart, funny, authentic, real and a true thought leader in vulnerability. Vulnerability was not something I was ‘good’ at, it was something I had to learn (and I did it kicking and screaming).
I highly recommend her books Gifts of Perfection and Daring Greatly is great too.
I recently watched a presentation she gave at 99U – a room full of creatives and she focused on not listening to your critics.
In her book Daring Greatly she quotes Theodore Roosevelt’s famous quote (often called the Man in the Arena):
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
video
I wrote copious notes.
I encourage you to invest 22 minutes watching it too. She defines the seats in the arena and the people we reserve them for.
Some of my fave quotes included:
- It’s not about winning, it’s not about losing, it’s about showing up and being seen.
- I want to show up and be seen in my work and in my life and if you are going to show up and be seen, there is only one guarantee, and that is you will get your ass kicked.
Being creative involves risk. Being innovative involves vulnerability. You might choose to step in front of an audience, publish thoughts on social media, write a book, create a blog, or share your true feelings with someone… you are getting attention for your expertise and your thoughts and not everyone likes it (or agrees with it). It’s hard not to pay attention to the critics, but it’s possible.I wonder if you need to share more of your work, more of yourself, more of your expertise? It’s risky, someone won’t like it – so what. If you want to shine attention on something that is important to you, be brave, speak up, publish and then wait… the critics will show up and they will kick your a**.
Then you can pick yourself up and decide if you belong in the arena or in the stands.
