The Gifts of Imperfection

It is through Brené Brown’s words in this book that I began to make sense of my journey, which is marked by loss, resilience, and an unwavering search for belonging. As I navigated the often-turbulent waters of corporate life, I wrestled with a deep-seated issue, a trait so common among my fellow Gen Xers: the struggle with authority. Through this book, it is evident that attempting to fit in, to mold myself into the expectations of others, often leads me to more heartache than success.

My path has been riddled with tremendous trials designed to dampen my spirit. Yet, through… show more.

Like many women, I struggled with perfectionism for much of my life and believed I always needed to do everything correctly to be accepted, loved, and safe.

I read this book as part of my journey to deconstruct the thought patterns that kept me feeling anxious, people-pleasing everyone, and always feeling bad about myself. This book helped me understand that being “perfect” wasn’t an objectively good thing to try to be, nor was it even possible.

It helped me understand the ways in which trying to be perfect or appear perfect made it impossible to actually be myself and make… show more.

Brown invites readers to "join a wholehearted revolution,” and that sums up everything I love about her work.

Her kindness and empathy are what draw you into the book, and her honest wisdom is what makes you come back for more (time and again, in my case at least).

Around 2 million other book buyers agree, so I’m not going out on a limb by recommending this one, but let me suggest that it’s worth a reread or three. You’ll learn something new, inspiring, and useful every time. 

For most of my life, self-doubt had been a constant companion. I was someone who looked successful on the outside, but didn’t feel that way within. I kept pushing in my career – trying to earn validation and compensate for my insecurities – until I hit severe burnout. That’s when I first read The Gifts of Imperfection. This book helped me unpack the thoughts and conditioning that were contributing to my sense of inadequacy and set me on a path to rebuilding my self-worth and confidence as a highly sensitive person. 

If I could pick a book for everyone in the world to read, regardless of their interest in IA – it would be The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown.

I want to be clear, this is not a book about information architecture. It is, however, a book with a strong information architecture outlining effective daily practices that are core to wholehearted living. Learning the ten ‘guideposts’ in this book made me a stronger sensemaker and a better human. It made me look inside myself and find the parts of me that were making messes messier rather than making sense… show more.

“The universe is not short on wake-up calls. We’re just quick to hit the snooze button.” Is there anyone who can express raw honesty, or can craft a punchy, witty, and above all true statement like Brené Brown? No, there isn’t. Brown has done the hard work of learning to look at herself uncompromisingly, of letting her heart break, and of supporting herself through this process with love. And then she’s communicated her journey with humor and searing authenticity. If you want to get to a place where you can say, “I am enough,” read this book.