It’s not very often that I can say a book changed my life, except for one. I rarely think about a specific book every day. Yes, Lean In by Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, is that amazing.

I think I take risks and “lean in” to my family, my job, my passions, but after devouring the book in a little over three hours while traveling, I realized my risks, my priorities, my decisions needed some adjustment.

“This book makes the case for leaning in, for being ambitious in any pursuit” (p. 10). Sandberg explains there’s no single definition of happiness as we don’t all want the same things in life. She discusses unwritten rules of gender roles in society, the “holy trinity of fear,” Imposter Syndrome/feeling like a fraud, and so many more topics that literally made me put the book down at several moments so my brain could digest everything.

I am sure the man next to me on my flight thought I was crazy because I was on the verge of tears many times as I read the book – the acknowledgement page (which I took a picture of a sent to my husband because – oh my goodness – captures the way I feel about my Love), each time I read the title of a new chapter – knowing Sandberg was going to “read my mail!,” accepting her calls to action, laughing and simultaneously cringing from her self-deprecating stories, knowing I’ve lived through many similar ones. I’m not going to lie; I likely didn’t help my flight neighbor’s behavioral health concerns for me as I may have actually laughed out loud on multiple occasions.

Lean In changed my view on many parts of my life. I have made several decisions over the last three weeks, since reading the book, that I definitely would not have done without Sandberg’s advice. Amazingly powerful book!

While there’s no mention of the nursing profession in the book, I found myself thinking of men within the nursing profession a lot as I read the book. There are many parallels.

Woman or man – You. Need. To. Read. This. Book.

Have you read Lean In? What do you think about the book?