Playing Big by Tara Mohr is a book for women who fail to recognise their own brilliance. Tara explores several areas that talented and skilled women often struggle with, resulting in these women holding themselves back from playing bigger, whether in their career or when pursuing their passion.
Book Summary
Chapter 1
The book begins by discussing the ‘voice of self-doubt’ and teaches you what to do when you feel insecure and self-critical.
Chapter 2...
...goes on to explain how you can tune in to the voice of wisdom within.
Chapter 3...
...tackles the topic of fear and provides a new perspective from which to examine fear in your life. Tara then provides a number of practical exercises to try when dealing with fear.
Chapter 4
This is about unhooking from praise and criticism. Tara argues that women can become overly attached to what others think, and this disproportionately affects how they feel about themselves and the actions they’re willing to take. She provides 5 principles for learning how to unhook from praise and criticism.
Chapter 5...
...looks at unlearning what school taught us about achievement.
Tara argues that in school we’re taught to figure out what the authority figure (the teacher) wants and then shape our work accordingly. This leads us to enter the workforce believing that the opinion of the current boss is the absolute objective. It doesn’t teach us to effectively challenge authority.
School also teaches us that preparation is the key to success. Whether it is preparing a project or studying for a test, we learn that good marks are directly proportional to how much effort we’ve put into the preparation. The problem with this is that women often go on in life to waste time over-preparing and avoid challenges that require improvisation.
Chapter 6
Here she calls out 6 hiding strategies that women use to avoid playing bigger while convincing themselves they’re moving forward in a careful way.
I found this chapter particularly eye-opening. If you use any of these strategies you may be convinced that you are just being diligent. To hear that thousands of women do the same can be challenging!
The second half of the book...
...focuses on taking action, changing the way we communicate, and pursuing our true purpose.
Each chapter contains journaling activities to help you work through the material and apply it in your life.
Why Read it ?
The author’s stated goal is to help women move past self-doubt to create whatever is meaningful for them.
This book takes an honest look at the patterns of thinking and the behaviours that many women have and how they may be holding you back from the life you really want to lead.
If you suspect you might be capable of more than you think, if you have dreams for a bigger life, if you desperately want to take that next big step but feel something is holding you back - this book is for you!
Who will benefit from it?
Although the endorsement from Marie Claire states that it will benefit those women who feel like they're being held back in their career, it has a much broader application. While it will apply to those women on the corporate ladder, the text references women of diverse ages, professions, circumstances, and aspirations.
So the advice is going to be widely applicable.
The insights can be applied by all women, whether you're running your own business, starting a side hustle, volunteering at your kid's school, or pursuing a hobby or passion.
Resource:
Playing Big by Tara Mohr
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