Rejoice Danielle Godoy's Key Ideas from The Gifts of Imperfection
by Brené Brown

•Anyone who wants to live a more meaningful life

•Anyone who has a great idea, but is afraid to share it with the world

•Anyone troubled by feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability

Learn how to live a more fulfilling life by being true to yourself.

What would you say is your biggest flaw?

Perhaps you're an inveterate procrastinator. Maybe you feel like you've failed as a parent. Whatever it might be, you're not alone.

We all have our flaws and foibles. It's how we deal with them that matters. In her research on shame and its effects on the human mind, author Brené Brown has gathered thousands of stories from people around the US.

From the stories, a powerful pattern has emerged: Those who find ways to embrace their imperfections, lead happier, more fulfilled lives than those who don't. While being aware of your flaws is an important first step, it's not enough. The true transfomative power lies in learning to love yourself.

• why everything looks better when you zoom out;
• why you should devote a decent portion of your life to play; and
• why you should define yourself with slashes.

Authenticity is a choice that requires courage, compassion and connection.

Most people would like to live a life that is true to who they are; in other words, we'd like to be as authentic as possible.

Unfortunately, a handful of factors stand in the way: for example, a lack of self-confidence or pressure to conform. As a result, we feel we are inauthentic people, too weak to live honestly.

But this is simply untrue!

Authenticity isn't a quality that you either have or don't. Rather, it's a choice, one that reflects how we want to live. It's the daily decision to be honest, embrace our vulnerability and to not care what others think.

And because it’s a choice, we thus have the option to be authentic on some days and less authentic on those other days when we’re too tired.

If you do, however, choose to act with more authenticity, then you’ll need to practice courage and compassion.

You’ll need the courage to speak your mind and allow yourself to be vulnerable in front of others. To look at this in practice, think about the next time you really want something to happen, like winning a contest or nailing an interview. Try not to play down your hopes in these situations. Acting like failure is no big deal won’t make the pain of failure any easier. In contrast, being honest about your hopes makes it possible for you to find support when you need it.

Furthermore, exercising compassion allows you to recognize that you aren’t alone, and that, in fact, everyone around you struggles with the exact same issues as you.

Compassion, in contrast with sympathy, is a relationship between equals: in order to relate to the struggles of others, you have to acknowledge your own, as well. By understanding that everyone around you has likely gone through what you’re going through now, you’ll have an easier time opening up to them and finding support.

Are you a perfectionist? If you are, do you consider it to be a positive quality?

Perfectionism, despite maybe sounding positive, isn't worth pursuing. It's different thanstriving to be your best, and is unrelated to self-improvement. Rather, it revolves around the fundamental fear of shame.

Perfectionism, in short, is the belief that, if we look perfect and live and act perfectly, then we'll be able to shield ourselves from criticism, judgment or blame. This shield, in otherwords, is supposed to protect us against shame.

However, life as a perfectionist is emotionally unhealthy, because it makes our own self-worth dependent on approval or acceptance from others. Not only is perfectionism unhealthy, but it's also addictive and self-destructive. In fact, perfectionism is futile, as perfection itself is illusory!