Quotes from Brene Brown

In my story, Ashley was willing to be in my darkness with me. She wasn't there as my helper or to fix me; she was just with me—as an equal—holding my hand as I waded through my feelings.

Like empathy, story stewardship is not walking in someone else's shoes, it's being curious and building narrative trust as they tell you about the experience of being in their own shoes. It's about believing people when they tell you what an experience meant to them.

Comfortable learning environments rarely lead to deep learning.

this betrayal usually happens long before the other ones. I'm talking about the betrayal of disengagement. Of not caring. Of letting the connection go. Of not being willing to devote time and effort to the relationship.

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 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.

Envy occurs when we want something that another person has. Jealousy is when we fear losing a relationship or a valued part of a relationship that we already have.

There is no true belonging, only an unspoken treaty to hate the same people. This fuels our spiritual crisis of disconnection.

the question that we must ultimately answer is this: What's the greater risk? Letting go of what people think or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?

It's so much easier to say, "I'll be whoever or whatever you need me to be, as long as I feel like I'm part of this.

Choosing courage does not mean that we're unafraid, it means that we are brave enough to love despite the fear and uncertainty.

It's just so hard to ask sometimes. But it doesn't stop me from expecting.

Based on D'Mello's research, too much confusion can lead to frustration, giving up, disengagement, or even boredom. Learning strategies most often used to help resolve confusion were seeking help, finding the most important information, monitoring progress, and planning a strategy.

Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame. It's a shield.

Mindfulness requires that we not "over-identify" with thoughts and feelings, so that we are caught up and swept away by negativity.

As Stuart Brown says, "The opposite of play is not work—the opposite of play is depression.

need to know about disappointment: Disappointment is unmet expectations, and the more significant the expectations, the more significant the disappointment. The way to address this is to be up-front about our expectations by taking the time to reality-check what we're expecting and why.

In more than thirty years of research, Aaron Beck and his colleagues have established that experiences of hopelessness are strongly and specifically related to suicidality.

Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.

And in this perception-driven world, the big question is always: Are you setting goals and expectations that are completely outside of your control?

In today's culture—where our self-worth is tied to our net worth, and we base our worthiness on our level of productivity—spending time doing purposeless activities is rare. In fact, for many of us it sounds like an anxiety attack waiting to happen. We

Perfectionism is correlated with depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis or missed opportunities. The fear of failing, making mistakes, not meeting people's expectations, and being criticized keeps us outside of the arena where healthy competition and striving unfolds.

Leaders must care for and be connected to the people they lead.

Google's five-year study on highly productive teams, Project Aristotle, found that psychological safety—team members feeling safe to take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other—was "far and away the most important of the five dynamics that set successful teams apart.

Stressful situations cause both physiological (body) and psychological (mind and emotion) reactions. However, regardless of how strongly our body responds to stress (increases in heart rate and cortisol), our emotional reaction is more tied to our cognitive assessment of whether we can cope with the situation than to how our body is reacting.