Dr. Brené Brown, Research Professor and Author

I don't remember who told me this, but someone said, 'Hey, you know marriage is 50-50? I was like, yeah, and they're like, 'That's total bullshit ... The only ones that last are the ones where when you have 20, your partner can come up with 80; and when your partner has 10, you can come up with 90.'

I have interviewed people in their 70s and 80s that have such profound regret and sorrow and grief about the things they didn't try, the chances they didn't take... because they had so much fear of what other people would think ... I think it's actually lethal. I think FOPO leads to addiction, depression, lethargy, hopelessness. It's terrible; it's a pandemic.

In a world full of criticism and cynicism and fear mongering, you have to let in some feedback about what you're doing... But there are a million cheap seats where people are just hurling hurtful things ... What I tell people is get a one inch by one inch piece of paper, and write down the names of people whose opinions of you matter.

Caring what everyone thinks and not caring what anyone thinks are both super problematic ... When you care about what everyone thinks, you lose the willingness to be vulnerable and to put yourself out there. When you stop caring about what anyone thinks at all, you lose your capacity for connection, because we're hardwired, neurobiologically, to care about what people think.

What I can tell you is I've never met a single person who's been brave with his or her life who has not had their ass kicked.

I think when the planets are aligned and we're doing the work we should be doing... Steve and I are each other's best partners, best sounding board, best counselors, best confidants ... I think that's where the magic is.

There are so many people in the world today that will never step foot in the arena. They will never, ever show up and be seen and heard, because they can't control the outcome. Yet, they are so free with their opinion around other people's real arena moments—people really stepping in and stepping up.

This whole skill set of rumbling with vulnerability... It's not about disclosure; it's not about oversharing; it's about not tapping out when things get hard and uncomfortable and awkward.

It's one of the most, I think, dangerous myths in the world that vulnerability is weakness, because there's just no evidence of that. You cannot get to courage without walking right through vulnerability.

Vulnerability is the first date after my divorce. It's trying to get pregnant after my second miscarriage. It's saying 'I love you' first. It's sitting with my wife who has stage four breast cancer and talking about plans for my toddler.

I don't think you can uncouple trust and vulnerability. And I think they grow together, and I think they can also die together.

Mastery, for me... I have mastery in areas where I have the confidence to stay curious, keep learning, and keep jumping ... I have mastery in areas where I'm still willing to try something new to the point of feeling nauseous.

In addition to sharing what I've learned from people, maybe the best, holiest form of stewardship is actually practicing what I'm learning from people, which is rest, play, reset, recover.

In companies where there is no vulnerability, where there is no ownership, that's where they keep making the same mistake, because no one's willing to dig in and talk about it, shine some light on it, pull it apart, and figure out what's going on.