Pick Up Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, And Live Bolder Depicted By Reshma Saujani Available As Online Book

book was written by the founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Code, Girls Who Code is an organization that aims at closing the gender gap in computer science job industry by piquing girls' interest in computer science at a young age and building the confidence, sisterhood, etc to pursue the career later.
As a facilitator/ teacher of a Girls Who Code after school club, I'm a huge fan of the organization so I was definitely interested in reading Reshma's book.


I listened to this on audio narrated by Reshma herself on my commute to work so I zoned in and out tbh.


The theme is that boys are taught to be brave and adventurous from a young age, while girls are taught to be perfect and pleasing.
This inhibits women later in life when they're afraid to be ambitious, speak up, try something new that they might not be good at, take risks.
This isn't really a new notion, . . but it was interesting to hear it backed up by studies, etc,

For example, there was a study done where they give kids lemonade that tasted awful on purpose used salt instead of sugar.
When the boys drank, they immediately spit it out and said "ew!" But the girls drank it and pretended to like it.
When the girls were later asked why they pretended to like it, . . they said they were afraid of hurting someone's feelings,

In the end I'm left feeling like I don't know what the answer is, This is what society teaches our girls, When I was in high school I was assigned to write apage paper defining a word, Any word I wanted, it was like a creative writing assignment I chose "perfection" and perfectionism has haunted me ever since.
It has plagued me and stifled me and made me afraid, Regardless, I appreciate Reshma's book raising awareness and her nonprofit encouraging girls to be brave and pioneer their way into the tech industry ltNot that great read but it holds interesting ideas!! I didn't liked or accepted all concepts in this book but they intrigued me!

Why do women tend to overthink things! Why do they tend to think about others and their feelings more than themselves!! Why do they think more about hurting other's feelings than being honest and being forward!! Is it truly how girls are raised or is it just biology!!

Women need to be brave and move forward, raise their voices and their opinions, support other women and fight the war! In a book inspired by her popular TED talk, New York Times bestselling author Reshma Saujani empowers women and girls to embrace imperfection and bravery.


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, Wellmeaning 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.
Paėmiau knygą į rankas pačiu tinkamiausiu metu, Tiesiog po nelabai tobulos dienos ir savęs raminimų bei drąsinimų, reikėjo motyvacinio spyrio šiknon, Jaučiau, kad būtent šioje knygoje rasiu tai, ko tądien stigo,

Radau. Tai knyga savęs paglostymui, nusiraminimui, padrąsinimui, Nors kažko naujo, netikėto, super stebuklingo joje neradau, tačiau skaičiau su malonumu ir truputį atsipūčiau.
Supratau, kokį didelį kelią jau nuėjau, kaip didžiuojuos tuo, kas ir kur esu, Tuo pačiu mąsčiau, kaip būtų buvę paprasčiau, jei tokią knygą būčiau gavusi ankstyvoje jaunystėje ar net paauglystėje.
Jaunoms merginoms, moterims, tai puiki knyga, kaip išsivaduoti ir kodėl reiktų vaduotis iš perfekcionizmo gniaužtų, gerbti, mylėti save, drąsiai veikti, elgtis taip, kaip liepia širdis, 'neėsti' savęs ir kitų.


Knygą iškart panorau pasiūlyti draugėms ir savo sesei, Norisi skleisti autorės žinutę, kad kuo daugiau moterų nurimtų, klausytų savęs, ne aplinkinių, būtų drąsios, ne tobulos.
Mylėkime ir palaikykime viena kitą,
Quick review for a quick read, I listened to this short audiobook from the founder and CEO of "Girls Who Code" over the course of a few days.
Reshma Saujani does a decent job of explaining why girls/women in the business realm and society at large especially those in STEM are held to a standard of perfection based on outdated stereotypes and assumptions.
She emphasizes the need to reshape the mindset for girls/women to be "brave, not perfect", It falls in line with some of the same notes she touches base on in her TED Talk, giving practical solutions and reframing in terms of encouraging girls and women to go for what they want.
It feels a bit limiting in the fact that it leans into stereotypes that are prevalent in Western society with a cisnormative framing those who may seek deeper dives beyond a surface scope may not get as much from this book as what it could have been.
Still, I did like that Saujani digs into her own experience in her personal and professional life to talk about the standards she was held to and how she worked to overcome her experiences of failure.
It's a good read for reframing, for the push to try things that scare you, and for incorporating habits to help motivate you when you do find yourself doubting your abilities and strengths in the face of failure.


I'm glad that I had the chance to pick this short read up it was just long enough to cover some base explorations on the topic, and I would

recommend it for a referential read, though I wish it could have delved even deeper.


Overall score:./stars. I didn't know who Reshma was before reading this, I wasn't sure I'd like her within the firstpages, but I loved her honesty, passion and commitment to living her best brave life.
But what I loved the most is that she was not only a strong woman, but she supported all other women.
She doesn't feel the need to put others down mainly women to elevate herself, So I applaud that tenfold, I also liked the research she used on how different little girls are treated than little boys,

This is one of those books that made me think, lots of food for thought here, I would have liked this more if I had been younger, but where I am at in my life, I'm pretty secure and have raised my girls to be the same way.
But even with that said, I think my girls could benefit from the messages that this author speaks about with such a drive.
I loved the be brave message, Sostars. I really, really appreciated this book,
Its a great summary of a lot of gender and social research around women in the workplace, at home, and in general as well as a gentle kick in the pants to enact change in your life.


As someone who often aims for perfection, who sometimes has a hard time balancing her life, difficulty saying no or saying yes because Im scared to do whatever it is, among a myriad other things referenced in the text at some point in my life, I found this book valuable.


Is it at times obvious Sure, Is it the first time some of these strategies have been presented to the public No, Is it still what I needed to read and a resource I will go back to again and again Yes.
Is it written in an engaging, intelligent and straightforward manner, like someone you respect is having a coffee discussion with you Also yes.


Ultimately what makes a book like this successful for a reader is if they actually implement strategies and change their mindset.
And Im confident I will do so the number of sticky tabs and notes to myself will back that up.


I recommend for anyone woman, man, teen, nonbinary, other who feels that they could be braver, that they should be able to aim for excellence without crippling themselves over unattainable perfection, and for those who just want a reminder that failure is okay.


Also Girls Who Code the organization the author founded is definitely something I wish existed when I was a kid!!.