Self-Help Advice You Haven't Heard Before

A 3-Step Plan to Avoid the Shame Spiral

Remember these ninja-warrior moves that will help you become "shame resilient" after even the most embarrassing situations.
"1. Practice courage and reach out! Yes, I want to hide, but the way to fight shame and to honor who we are is by sharing our experience with someone who has earned the right to hear it. 2. Talk to myself the way I would talk to someone I really love and whom I'm trying to comfort in the midst of a meltdown. Normally during a shame attack we talk to ourselves in ways we would NEVER talk to people we love and respect. 3. Own the story! I often say this aloud: 'If you own this story you get to write the ending.' When we bury the story we forever stay the subject of the story."

Reprinted from Daring Greatly by Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW by arrangement with Gotham Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., Copyright 2012.