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  • I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t)

  • Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power
  • Written by: Brené Brown
  • Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
  • Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (412 ratings)

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I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t) cover art

I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t)

Written by: Brené Brown
Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
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Publisher's Summary

The quest for perfection is exhausting and unrelenting. We spend too much precious time and energy managing perception and creating carefully edited versions of ourselves to show to the world. As hard as we try, we can't seem to turn off the tapes that fill our heads with messages like, Never good enough! and What will people think? 

Why? What fuels this unattainable need to look like we always have it all together? At first glance, we might think its because we admire perfection, but that's not the case. We are actually the most attracted to people we consider to be authentic and down-to-earth. We love people who are real; we're drawn to those who both embrace their imperfections and radiate self-acceptance. 

There is a constant barrage of social expectations that teach us that being imperfect is synonymous with being inadequate. Everywhere we turn, there are messages that tell us who, what, and how were supposed to be. So, we learn to hide our struggles and protect ourselves from shame, judgment, criticism, and blame by seeking safety in pretending and perfection. 

Based on seven years of ground-breaking research and hundreds of interviews, I Thought It Was Just Me shines a long-overdue light on an important truth: Our imperfections are what connect us to each other and to our humanity. Our vulnerabilities are not weaknesses; they are powerful reminders to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality that we're all in this together. 

As Dr. Brown writes, "We need our lives back. It's time to reclaim the gifts of imperfection - the courage to be real, the compassion we need to love ourselves and others, and the connection that gives true purpose and meaning to life. These are the gifts that bring love, laughter, gratitude, empathy and joy into our lives."

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2007 Brené Brown (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

"Brené Brown’s ability to explore shame and resilience with humor, vulnerability and honesty is both uplifting and liberating. If we want to change our lives, our relationships or even the world, we must start by understanding and overcoming the shame that keeps us silent. This important and hopeful book offers a bold new perspective on the power of telling our stories." (Professor Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient; Campaign Ambassador, International Campaign to Ban Landmines)
"Grounded in exceptional scholarship and filled with inspiring stories, this is one of those rare books that has the potential to turn lives around." (Harriet Lerner, Ph.D., author of The Dance of Anger)
" I Thought It Was Just Me can be a doorway to freedom and self-esteem for many, many readers. (Martha Beck, Ph.D., columnist, O, The Oprah Magazine, and author of Finding Your Own North Star)

What listeners say about I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t)

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator so annoying!

Brene Brown, pleeeeeease narrate your audible books because you are so interesting to listen to.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Description flawed. Bad audio.

Shame is something all genders deal with, this book is written for a female audience using data generated from women and describes situations and viewpoints men would have difficulty appreciating. This should have been pointed out in the description.
The narrators "S" sounds are so annoying and pronounced that they sound like a whistle. Did they not use any audio editing at all? After several minutes it's sssSSSSO annoying I can't continue listening.
Content may be OK (the little that I could stand to hear).
Cannot recommend.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Kia
  • 2018-12-09

This book is about shame

This book wasn’t at all what I expected. It’s completely about shame and women. It’s was okay, but no real new information here.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Missed the authenticity of the author’s voice

I thought this book was excellent, and yet it took me much longer to get through than most books. There was nothing wrong with the performance per se, although I only rated it three stars. I have had the pleasure of listening to several other of Brene Brown’s books, performed by the author herself. The personal experience and enthusiasm with which the author delivers her work, is simply missing for me in this book. Again, no disrespect to the performance by Lauren Fortgang, But sometimes I found myself zoning out because I missed that genuine enthusiasm that just cannot compare to a performance, when delivered by someone who is so intimately connected to her own personal research and topic. Because I have listened to several of Brown’s other books, delivered by the researcher/author herself, this was sadly missing for me. However I persevered and the book as usual was extremely well done. The only thing I felt that could be improved, was that on occasion, there was a run on of different comments, shared by various research participants, without alerting the listener to this. Perhaps if I had the physical book and saw a variety of different statements in quotations, it may have been easier to follow. Thus, at times, the clarity could have been improved. However, as usual, I loved Brown’s work and findings, shared as storytelling, which I am certain would be appealing to all who either read or listen to it.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Life changing content

Took me a while to get used to the slightly robotic reader"s voice, compared to Brene"s.
Still recommend it to everyone.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Where is Brene?! Was this book created by AI?

This book is great, but similar to her other books about shame and vulnerability, so nothing really that new and profound. It seems like it was a special promo deal made for Amazon exclusively. As Brene doesn’t event bother to narrate this book as she usually does with the rest of her books. It makes me wonder if she even wrote this book or did Amazon just create this book using their own AI based on all of Brene’s other books. And hearing the robotic AI narrator kept on distracting me and making me think where is Brene?! As I am so use to hearing her warm and fuzzy voice and upbeat narration, which is totally lacking from this book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

confusing narration

I really enjoyed the text in this title, but i found the narration very confusing as it was hard to follow.
The book is written in first person, from Brene Brown's experience, but then also uses many examples from others, also in first person.
the way these other first person bits were delivered was very confusing. it would jump from one first person story to another without anything breaking the two stories up, so you'd think it was the same person in the story. then it would jump back to Brene's story.
I hope they fix this in future books' audio version, so it's clear when the "I" changes. Ideally there would be another narrator for the other voices, or at least switch to third person POV.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Amy
  • 2020-08-04

Deeper understanding of Shame

I found this book extremely helpful in understanding shame and working on shame resilience. It has made me more aware of my own shame, how I interact with others in their shame, showing empathy and compassion. I am hoping by my further knowledge in this topic I will be able to strengthen and grow not just within myself but my family as well.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

illuminating

Loved the way Brene used real experience that we can easily connect with. Connection is truly what we are all looking for.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Disappointed with the narration

Having heard Brene Brown do a TED Talk, I was eager to hear more of what she has to say. In my enthusiasm for the book, I failed to notice that it was not Brene Brown doing the narration. I have heard Lauren Fortgang before, and her presentation is always 'passable", and rather bland . It's reminiscent of a very competent but bored grade five teacher waiting for her coffee break. I would love to have heard this book read, either by the author or by an voice artist who can lend more interest and warmth to this important topic. Just sayin'

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