Some Nerve: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave

Written by Patty Chang Anker

Narrated by Patty Chang Anker and Alysia Reiner

One woman's quest to conquer her fears and embrace life-and to inspire others to do the same

Patty Chang Anker grew up eager to please and afraid to fail. But after thirty-nine years, she decided it was time to stop being a chicken. Motivated initially to become a better role model for her two young daughters, she vowed to face the fears that had taken root like weeds, choking the fun and spontaneity out of life. She learned to dive into a swimming pool, ride a bike, do a handstand, and surf. As she shared her experiences, she discovered that most people suffer from their own secret terrors-of driving, flying, heights, public speaking, and more. It became her mission to help others do what they thought they couldn't, and to feel for themselves the powerful sense of being alive that is the true reward of becoming brave.

Inspired and inspiring, Some Nerve draws on Anker's interviews with teachers, therapists, coaches, and clergy to impart both practical advice and profound wisdom. Through her own journey and the stories of dozens of others who have triumphed over common fears, she conveys with humor and infectious exhilaration the most vital lesson of all: Fear isn't an end point, but the point of entry to a life of incomparable joy.

FEARS INCLUDE: Aging, Becoming Boring, Biking, Breaking bones, Bullies, Chaos, Clutter, Cold, Control (loss of), Crime, Death, Driving, Exercise, Failure, Flying, Heights, Letting go, Looking dumb, Math, Nature (esp. sharks), P.E., Pleasure, Public Speaking, Public toilets, Rejection, Roller coasters, Success, Surfing, Tubing, Unemployment, Unknown, Water, Writing. And Wedgies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ascent Audio
• Release date: Nov 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781469056616

Reviews for Some Nerve

[doingdewey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What inspired Patty to try to become brave was the realization that her two daughters were inheriting her timid approach to life. Previously too afraid of failure to try new things, in this book Patty chronicles her adventures facing down her fears and those of others. With input from friends and experts, Patty shares her experience exploring everything from fears of public speaking to the fear of death.

I think of myself as a somewhat timid person, so I enjoy reading books about how to be brave. However, I’m not worried about suddenly finding myself in a war zone or other extraordinary circumstances that require death-defying heroism. I’m afraid of far more mundane things, like failing at something new I try at work. That made this book the perfect book for me to read. I am very grateful to Patty Anker for sharing her emotions so candidly while experiencing every day fears. Her motivations were inspiring; her interviews with experts were thought-provoking; and her thoughts were very relatable. It made me want to get out there and start doing things outside my comfort zone right away.

That said, this is less of a self-help kind of book than the title might suggest. It is very like (and I would therefore recommend it to fans of) both MWF Seeking BFF and The Happiness Project. The point isn’t to get specific advice. It’s to be inspired and to get a glimpse of how amazingly alike we are to other people, despite our differences. Differences like the way the authors of these three books have the ability to write such humorous, touching memoirs that do such a wonderful job capturing a bit of the human experience. Highly recommended.

This review first published on Doing Dewey.

[loralu_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pretty solid book. Has some good inspirational thoughts to it, but a touch long, I feel like.

[lilac_lily01 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed the idea of "Some Nerve". Many people can relate to being fearful and the author admits to being even more fearful than most. In her inspiring book she chronicles her journey of facing and overcoming many of her own fears such as diving and public speaking. The author's writing style is funny and entertaining and I found myself laughing out loud a lot. Reading Mrs. Anker stories encouraged me to take more (calculated) risks in my own life and I would definitely recommend this book!

[lvmygrdn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was hoping for more from this book. I give Patty a lot of credit for facing her fears. After a few chapters, it seemed to be repeating itself and I lost interest.

[abcarroll_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I find the premise of this book interesting, I found this book slightly difficult to get through. I enjoyed some of the stories, but in general this just wasn't my cup of tea.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Anker is a scaredy cat. I thought I was a fearful person, but my small fears and anxieties are nothing when set against the enormous fears and anxieties of Patty Chang Anker.Anker was tired of being a scaredy cat. She set out to face her fears. And she did. Inspirational. Know, however, that Anker was guided by her therapist in her work. Inspirational, nevertheless.

[joyce2adams250 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVED THIS BOOK! THIS BOOK SPOKE TO ME FROM PAGE ONE TO THE END. I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON BECOMEING BRAVE ALOT THIS YEAR. THIS BOOK WAS A BIG HELP. IT WAS AN EASY READ AND I LOVED THE PERSONAL STORIES. I RELATED TO EVERY FEAR DISCUSSED EXCEPT BOOGIE BOARDING AND SURFING-I FEAR THEM BUT HAVE NO DESIRE TO TRY THEM. THE FEAR OF DEATH TOUCHED ME THE MOST. I LOST MY EX-HUSBAND AND THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN THIS YEAR. THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS BOOK. I AM GIVING COPYS OF THIS BOOK TO THOSE IN MY LIFE WHO NEED HELP FACEING THEIR FEARS.

[eachurch-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I liked the concept behind this book, unfortunately I found the book tough to get through. It just wasn't that interesting to read about Anker watching her daughter learning how to ride a bike or her friend learning to put her face in the water. Perhaps if Anker was a personal friend I would have had more patience with her tendency to include meaningless and irrelevant details, and to document every little feeling she was experiencing. I did like how she weaved in secondary sources, but I was left thinking like those books were the ones that I should be reading.

[karen59_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I mildly enjoyed Some Nerve: Lessons While Becoming Brave, but found it tedious as it went on. The basic thesis of the book (if you are afraid you have to move through it by taking action...except death!) was interesting in the first few chapters but quickly became repetitious. I do like how she picked every day fears like driving, biking, to examine as opposed to fears of skydiving or other less common day experiences.

[emaurer-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I would recommend Patty Chang Anker's book, "Some Nerve". I enjoyed reading it and felt like I was listening to a friend and kindred spirit. There were a lot of things that she said, while relating her story where I stopped and though, "really, her too. I thought I was the only one". Learning to be brave and facing challenges can be a discouraging and frustrating challenge. I am sure the author felt these emotions too, but when she was relating the stories she seemed to find the humor in them, which made for a refreshing, nice read. This book did not change my life, but it was nice to hear about someones triumphs, and failures and know that I can succeed too. It also made me what to change my outlook and see the humor in my failures.