Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution.

by Brené Brown

Overview

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • When we deny our stories, they define us. When we own our stories, we get to write the ending.

Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart!

Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability—the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome—is the only path to more love, belonging, creativity, and joy. But living a brave life is not always easy: We are, inevitably, going to stumble and fall.

It is the rise from falling that Brown takes as her subject in Rising Strong. As a grounded theory researcher, Brown has listened as a range of people—from leaders in Fortune 500 companies and the military to artists, couples in long-term relationships, teachers, and parents—shared their stories of being brave, falling, and getting back up. She asked herself, What do these people with strong and loving relationships, leaders nurturing creativity, artists pushing innovation, and clergy walking with people through faith and mystery have in common? The answer was clear: They recognize the power of emotion and they’re not afraid to lean in to discomfort.

Walking into our stories of hurt can feel dangerous. But the process of regaining our footing in the midst of struggle is where our courage is tested and our values are forged. Our stories of struggle can be big ones, like the loss of a job or the end of a relationship, or smaller ones, like a conflict with a friend or colleague. Regardless of magnitude or circumstance, the rising strong process is the same: We reckon with our emotions and get curious about what we’re feeling; we rumble with our stories until we get to a place of truth; and we live this process, every day, until it becomes a practice and creates nothing short of a revolution in our lives. Rising strong after a fall is how we cultivate wholeheartedness. It’s the process, Brown writes, that teaches us the most about who we are.

ONE OF GREATER GOOD’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

“[Brené Brown’s] research and work have given us a new vocabulary, a way to talk with each other about the ideas and feelings and fears we’ve all had but haven’t quite known how to articulate. . . . Brené empowers us each to be a little more courageous.”—The Huffington Post

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812995824
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/25/2015
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	66,532
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation–Brené Brown Endowed Chair at the Graduate College of Social Work. She is also a visiting professor in management at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. Brown has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of six #1 New York Times bestsellers: Atlas of the Heart, The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership. With Tarana Burke, she co-edited the bestselling anthology You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience. She hosts the Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead podcasts, and her TEDx talk, “The Power of Vulnerability,” is one of the top five most-viewed TED talks in the world with more than 50 million views. Her Netflix special, The Call to Courage, is the first filmed lecture by a researcher on the streaming service. Brené Brown lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve. They have two children, Ellen and Charlie.

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Editorial Reviews

07/20/2015
Brown (Daring Greatly) wrestles with that moment when we fall—and, as she argues, the brave person attempting to live wholeheartedly will always fall. Encouraging readers to be curious about their emotions, Brown guides them through the process of accepting vulnerability and emerging from the shadow of shame and fear. With a fresh perspective that marries research and humor, Brown offers compassion while delivering thought-provoking ideas about relationships—with others and with oneself. Her writing is down-to-earth and entertaining, and it is easy to recognize one's own self in Brown's stories, examples of which include a tension-filled almost-argument between Brown and her husband that blessedly turned into a moment of understanding, dealings with a sloppy and demeaning hotel roommate that moved Brown to self-scrutiny, and a botched work project where taking responsibility for failure created a space for respect and teamwork. This book is about owning your story and choosing how to actively engage with the world. With Brown's excellent guidance, it's easy for readers to become as invested in her story as they are in their own, and, more importantly, to move beyond preconceived stories about themselves. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

In a world filled with rejection letters . . . Rising Strong can help your graduate make the most out of [their] failures.”—Bustle

“[Brené Brown’s] research and work have given us a new vocabulary, a way to talk with each other about the ideas and feelings and fears we’ve all had but haven’t quite known how to articulate. . . . Brené empowers us each to be a little more courageous.”—The Huffington Post
 
“With a fresh perspective that marries research and humor, Brown offers compassion while delivering thought-provoking ideas about relationships—with others and with oneself.”—Publishers Weekly 

“It is inevitable—we will fall. We will fail. We will not know how to react or what to do. No matter how or when it happens, we will all have a choice—do we get up or not? Thankfully, Brené Brown is there with an outstretched arm to help us up.”—Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why and Leaders Eat Last

From the Publisher

2015-06-04
More solid advice from the author of Daring Greatly (2012) and The Gifts of Imperfection (2010). For nearly 15 years, Brown (Social Work/Univ. of Houston) has researched human behavior and advised people to dare to do great things. Inevitably, however, there are moments when we try and fail. Here, the author gives readers the necessary tools to get up and try again. Brown outlines a three-step process—the reckoning, the rumble, and the revolution—that unfolds much like the three major acts in a book or play. In the reckoning stage, we identify the emotions inherent in an experience and begin to think about how the emotions interact with thoughts and behavior. In rumble, we connect with the stories we create around an event and cross-examine them to determine the truths and half-truths that might lie below the surface. Some feelings that might surface are shame, blame, accountability, criticism, disappointment, generosity, nostalgia, and forgiveness. In the book's longest section, Brown identifies 15 "rumble" topics, and she breaks down each one. She analyzes how we often invent stories that aren't necessarily true, since they may be based on experiences from the past, childhood memories, and perceived notions of another person's thoughts and desires, which can be entirely off-base. The author uses ample examples from interviewees, other researchers, books, and even song lyrics to illustrate her methodology. In the revolution phase, the truth that's been exposed in rumble gives us energy to stand back up as a changed person. "The rising strong process can lead to deep, tumultuous, groundbreaking, no-turning-back transformation," writes the author. "The process may be a series of incremental changes, but when the process becomes a practice—a way of engaging with the world—there's no doubt it ignites revolutionary change." An innovative one-two-three-punch approach to self-help and healing from an author who has helped countless readers change their lives.

Kirkus Reviews

10/01/2014
A research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, Brown studies issues of vulnerability and shame—which leads her directly to this book's subject, bravery, both what it is and how we can find it in ourselves. Since she's author of the No. 1 New York Times best sellers Daring Greatly and The Gifts of Imperfection and has had nearly 16 million views of her 2010 TED talk, this book is a sure bet for many social science collections.

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