Present Perfect

Somov, Pavel G

• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
• Year: 0001
• ISBN:
  9781608820450
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Self Improvement

A revolutionary approach to overcoming perfectionism! A recent, randomized study—published by Mindfulness Journal —shows that Present Perfect is effective as a standalone intervention. The study found that those who had read the book experienced a statistically significant reduction of self-criticalness, a result that was still maintained at a six weeks follow-up (Wimberley, Mintz, & Suh, Mindfulness, Nov. 2015). While there's no doubt that setting high standards for yourself is a good thing, you've probably already noticed that perfectionism can come at a high price. And when you take steps to try to change, it's easy to be too hard on yourself and fall into the same traps that keep you feeling stressed and disappointed. This book presents a revolutionary approach to overcoming perfectionism — a way to transform your need for precision into self-acceptance, compassion, and love for each perfectly imperfect passing moment in our lives. In Present Perfect, you'll use the Buddhist psychology of mindfulness to learn to accept the present moment in all of its ordinary perfection. This book is filled with over 150 exercises and meditations that you can practice to become more flexible toward yourself and others without losing your love of a job well done. With this compassionate approach, you'll soon be able not only to accept life as it is, but also become more accepting and forgiving of yourself and others.

Table of contents

• Contents
• introduction
• introduction to perfectionism in general and to your perfectionism in particular
• 360° of perfectionism
• perfectly imperfect, completely incomplete, and just so
• broadening the meaning of perfection
• perfectly imperfect: from dualities and dichotomies to suchness
• completely incomplete: a process view of perfection
• overcoming mindlessness, guilt, shame, and motivational apathy
• the rehabilitation of conscious choice
• finding perfection in a mistake
• from guilt to regret: rediscovering motivational innocence
• from resentment and reluctance to renewed enthusiasm
• rehabilitation of your self-view
• from self-esteem to self-acceptance
• breaking away from the mirror: dis-identification and re-identification
• time, performance, and uncertainty
• from here to here: developing a healthy relationship with time
• from outcome to process: in search of perfect performance
• embracing the uncertainty of the future
• beyond certainty: cultivating the don’t-know mind
• coexistence, compassion, connection
• from social vacuum to compassionate coexistence