Wonderhell

About the Author

Laura Gassner Otting is a renowned speaker, author, and entrepreneur who has spent her career helping people embrace their ambition and live their best lives. Her expertise lies in leadership, organizational change, and personal development. Laura’s work is a testament to her belief that everyone has the potential to achieve extraordinary success if they are willing to push through the discomfort and doubt that often accompanies ambition.

Main Idea

Wonderhell: Why Success Doesn’t Feel Like It Should… and What to Do About It by Laura Gassner Otting explores the paradox of success: the more we achieve, the more we feel overwhelmed, anxious, and uncertain. Success, while wonderful, can also feel like a form of hell, as it brings with it increased expectations and pressure. This book helps readers navigate the space between their past achievements and future aspirations, encouraging them to see this uncertainty not as a breakdown, but as a breakthrough.

Table of Contents

1. Embracing Your Ambition
2. Imposter Syndrome and the New You
3. Negotiating Your Response to Doubt
4. Why Success Requires Doing It All Again
5. Managing Uncertainty
6. Creating Your Own Luck
7. Finding Your True Identity
8. Burnout and Recharging

Embracing Your Ambition

The first step in navigating Wonderhell is to embrace your ambition fully. Often, we shrink ourselves to fit into the boxes that others have built for us or that we have constructed for ourselves out of fear and insecurity. Laura encourages us to break free from these limitations and to play bigger. She states, "It’s time to stop shrinking into the smaller box built for you by others and start taking up a space of your own."

Playing bigger requires us to align our actions with our true selves. This alignment, or consonance, creates a sense of flow and purpose in our work. When we pursue goals that are meaningful to us, we are more likely to experience success and fulfillment. However, this also means that the stakes are higher, and the pressure can feel more intense.

• Recognize and break free from self-imposed limitations.
• Align your actions with your true self to achieve consonance.
• Embrace the challenge of living up to your potential.

"The life you want is right there on the other side of a decision, waiting for you to believe it can be yours." - Laura Gassner Otting

Imposter Syndrome and the New You

As we strive for greater success, we often encounter imposter syndrome—the feeling that we are not truly deserving of our accomplishments. This can lead to self-doubt and a fear of being exposed as a fraud. Laura explains that imposter syndrome is a natural part of stepping into a new, larger version of ourselves.