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The power of vulnerability

Liam Sandford
5 min readJun 26, 2024
Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash

Stepping into the arena

Society has created the perception that to show vulnerability is to show weakness. This has led to, in most part, people shying away from being vulnerable. But this inadvertently also means we are avoiding being courageous; because to take a leap into the unknown, or to do something publicly means letting your true self be seen. The concept of stepping into the arena shared by Brené Brown in her book ‘Daring Greatly.’ She begins by sharing a quote from former President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt:

‘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 errs, who comes short again and again,

Because there is no effort without error and shortcoming but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;

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…’

Daring Greatly

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Liam Sandford
Liam Sandford

Written by Liam Sandford

I help ambitious people scale their impact with quiet communication • Best Selling Author of Effortless Public Speaking • liamsandford.com/subscribe

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