Guise - How to be an imperfectionist : the new way to self-acceptance, fearless living, and freedom from perfectionism

How to Be an Imperfectionist

The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living, and Freedom from Perfectionism

By Stephen Guise

Blog

http://deepexistence.com

Book site

http://imperfectionistbook.com

Copyright

How to Be an Imperfectionist by Stephen Guise

Copyright 2015 Selective Entertainment, LLC, All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations, without written permission from the author.

Legal Disclaimer

The information contained in this book is the opinion of the author and is based on the author's personal experiences and observations. The author does not assume any liability whatsoever for the use of or inability to use any or all information contained in this book, and accepts no responsibility for any loss or damages of any kind that may be incurred by the reader as a result of actions arising from the use of information found in this book. Use this information at your own risk.

The author reserves the right to make any changes he deems necessary to future versions of the publication to ensure its accuracy.

Get My Stress Management eBook for Free

In addition to receiving this book and other gifts instantly, every Tuesday, subscribers get an email containing smart life strategies (which go beyond motivation). People have told me the content is life-changing, and its free! The benefit for me is communication: Ill have a way to tell you when my next book or course is available.

Sign up here: http://deepexistence.com/subscribe/

Mini Habits

If you havent yet, I strongly recommend reading my first book, Mini Habits. While its not imperative to read Mini Habits to benefit from this book, there is a definite synergy between them. If you read Mini Habits, youll understand why these imperfectionist solutions are in mini habit form.

Based on the science, Mini Habits is arguably the most effective habit formation strategy in the world; and based on reviews, its arguably the most loved. People cant help but talk about the strategy thats changed their life!

Mini Habits Book: http://amazon.com/dp/B00HGKNBDK

Mini Habit Mastery

If you prefer video and want to learn the mini habits concept, you can take the Mini Habit Mastery Video Course. It retails for $149, but you can use coupon code imperfectionist to get it for just $59 (thats $90 off!). The book and the course are leaders in ratings and satisfaction (the course is rated 5 stars from 40+ reviews), and I guarantee my products reviews are genuine.

Mini Habit Mastery HD Video Course: http://udemy.com/mini-habit-mastery/?couponCode=imperfectionist

Front Matter

Book Content

End Matter

Preface

Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.

~ Kim Collins

Perfectionism (noun): A disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable

Having perfectionistic tendencies myself, I know how destructive and frustrating this mindset can be. In this book, I want to make a case that not only compels you but also shows you how to embrace imperfection in your life. Imperfection isnt bad, its freedom. (To be clear, perfection isnt bad eitherby definition, its flawlessbut perfectionism is problematic.)

Perfectionism makes you stay home, not take chances, and procrastinate on projects; it makes you think your life is worse than it is; it keeps you from being yourself; it stresses you out; it tells you that good is bad; and it ignores the natural way in which things work.

Were going to discuss strategies that can help us to become imperfectionists. Before we get into this book, there are some things about my first book that will be relevant to our journey into imperfectionism.

Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results is about a strategy for lasting habitual change. As a result of the strategys effectiveness, Mini Habits has been a great success both commercially and in the lives of the people who implement the strategy. After selling more than 45,000 copies in its first year in the United States, it is being translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide.

The premise of Mini Habits was ridiculous: force yourself to do (seemingly) too-small-to-matter positive behaviors, but ones you can do every day, even on your worst day. Keep this in mind as I refer to mini habits throughout this book: a mini habit is a too-small-to-fail behavior you do every day.

Daily mini habit examples: write one line of code, read two pages in a book, write 50 words, call one lead (sales), email one person (networking), or process one piece of mail. The list goes on at minihabits.com/mini-habit-ideas , but the concept is the samechoose an activity you cant possibly fail to do, and do it until it becomes a habit and grows into something bigger. There is no ceiling on mini habits, as your one push-up goal can turn into 50 push-ups on any given day. The small goal only ensures that you start.

My Exciting Results with Mini Habits

As I write this more than two years after doing that first single push-up, I want to share how my results have continued to get better over time with mini habits.

After six months of doing one push-up (or more) per day, my resistance to exercising had decreased. I was then able to go to the gym three days a week; three months later, I went to the gym four days a week; two months after that, I was going five days a week. At first, these were requirements I needed to meet. I still exercise three to five days a week because I want to do it, and its often for an hour or more. Exercise is like eating dinner: I may end up skipping it once in a while for unforeseen reasons, such as illness or injury, but if I can do it, I wont skip it. Im in the best shape of my life, and Im getting stronger.

On the heels of my exercising mini habits success, I began mini habits of reading two pages of a book and writing 50 words a day. More than a year later, I havent raised the targets on these because it isnt necessary. I still read and write every day. The amount varies, but the results have been consistently greater than expected, which Ive seen is common with mini habits. Small, consistent, incremental steps in a healthy direction bring big results.

Theres been an exciting spillover effect into my psyche. I have more confidence in social situations, both from the above life improvements and by learning to take small steps to move ahead in any situation that scares me. Even as a natural-born introvert who is capable of hibernating for long periods, and someone who does not excel at small talk (Im an INTP for those familiar with Myers-Briggs personality profiling), Ive gone from shy to social.

My comfort zone is constantly expanding in multiple areas. Im more comfortable with (and more willing to do) what matters most to me: exercising, eating healthy food, writing, reading, and socializing. Before and after photos are great at capturing weight loss, but no photo can capture the many internal shifts that take place when you practice mini habits for a year or two. And unlike 21- or 30-day programs, these are permanent lifestyle changes. This has all happened over a period of two years without a slip-up.