Discussion

Your assignment asks you to discuss various ways to become successful, based on Reshma Saujani’s TED talk “Teach girls bravery, not perfection” and 1-2 other Internet sources.

In what follows, we will outline some of the ways to become successful presented in “Teach girls bravery, not perfection” and in the Internet text that we recommended, “It’s Perfectly OK to Not Always Be Perfect” by Sarah Persinger.

Ways to become successful

When we think about ways to become successful, it is first important to think about what defines success, because the idea of success is subjective. Some associate success with gaining money, others with fame, or with status. At the same time, success should usually come with a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

Reshma Saujani argues in her speech, “Teach girls bravery, not perfection”, that success is influenced by one’s ability to take risks and accept challenges:

And by the time they’re adults, whether they’re negotiating a raise or even asking someone out on a date, they’re habituated to take risk after risk. They’re rewarded for it. It’s often said in Silicon Valley, no one even takes you seriously unless you’ve had two failed start-ups. (ll. 21-23)

She argues that women in particular need to learn to be brave, as they are too cautious because they have been socialized to strive for perfection: “This study is usually invoked as evidence that, well, women need a little...