Courageous, not perfect

Reshma Saujani ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress in 2010. Despite her great fears, she took the leap and failed. Her candidacy ended in a spectacular defeat and a cathartic experience: no matter how embarrassing and uncomfortable her failure was, she did not sink into the ground; life went on. She realized how much this fear had restricted her throughout her life and how typical her avoidance strategy was for women. From childhood, girls are encouraged not to make mistakes and not to fail, while boys are often motivated to take risks and try new things, thereby learning from failure. As a result, girls become perfectionistic women and boys become risk-taking men. Many women therefore remain below their potential for their entire lives. Reshma Saujani aims to change this with her inspiring book. She presents practical ways to overcome perfectionism and strategies to conquer the fear of failure.