And Freedom from Perfectionism - The New Way to Self-Acceptance

There are many components of perfectionism and Stephen explains many of the causes, but more importantly gives you mini-habit sized strategies to help you take daily action to live and practice imperfection. A wonderful read and life changing!

I started reading this book and I couldn’t put it down. With simple and understandable logic, this gem of a book reduces to pill form todays wisdom made popular by self-help gurus such as Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dyer. It condenses the virtues of “Imperfectionism” down to pill form without preaching religion. Best of all the author provides a method to help the reader recover from the world's epedemic of perfectionism. Too often we see one of its victims smile and say with pride, “Oh, well that’s the way i am, I can’t help it. I’m a perfectionist.” He or she doesn’t even realize that this source of pride paralyzes not only him or her, but millions of people. It causes untold amounts of pain to everyone. The author provides tools to use daily that can (one day at a time) turn those who suffer from perfectionism into imperfectionists (what i call “Demands” and “Preferences”) Anyone who reads this book and concludes the author is encourging medicracy hasn’t read the book or has a problem with comprehension.

Stephen Guise has not only done his research but much of this well written eBook appears to be genuinely his own thinking, as opposed to borrowing almost exclusively from other sources as some writers do. Written clearly and with humor, apparently How to Be an Imperfectionist has been developed over a period of time that allowed the author to edit and rewrite so that the material flows quickly and with precision. I found no typos or grammatical errors, nor any mistakes in logic, in a book which is written by an Imperfectionist! His ideas of lowering one's benchmark expectations and the digital thinking are brilliant - I don't know how many points are original, but the concept of Mini-Habits is not original, the only sour note struck by the book were his reminders to his readers that he has written another book called Mini-Habits, and trying to incorporate a synopsis of that into How to Be an Imperfectionist. My opinion only. I learned much useful information from my careful reading of Stephen's newest book. Action beats ruminating hands down, but he also cautions against risky behavior which is illegal or truly dangerous, a warning which I hope his enthusiastic readers appreciate. A reference to minimalism is included briefly, a concept satisfying to one who lives in materialistic North America. I like the book cover and know that Stephen asked his readers for a vote on their opinion, a very wise move from a wise young man.

If you are like me and are focused on changing your mindset, but you have found a lack of success in merely “thinking” your way to change, I would absolutely recommend this book.

This is an exciting book to read because it both delivers insights that sparked many epiphanies while also offering practical advice that is easily-implemented. Guise coaches the reader on the actionable steps (through mini-habits) that change thinking and mindset through an entertaining and educational journey.

I have been paralyzed with fear even to the point of sabotaging my business success, using procrastination for so long it seeps out of my pores all because of perfectionism. I spend too much time on what ifs and hours on planning to make my actual doing perfect. So much time and energy is spent this way that I never take action. I was romances and sweet talked by tomorrow only for tomorrow to never arrive. I am a college educated adult who "knows better" but have been living like this for so long it has been difficult to break out and "just do it." Stephen offers logical, practical and realistic advice and guidance. He mixes the why with the how, offering personal experience and stories which strengthen the likability and usability of the book rather than detract as I often find. This book is an excellent source for anyone struggling to change from life long habits of aiming for perfection.

There are so many self-help books out there, you can search and search for the perfect answer. I have read many of the books that purport to have a "the answer" they all say they do. After many books and the search for perfection, this book is the best overall guide to optimizing yourself. The thing I like about this book is it actually collates a lot of the ideas I have read in other books, but instead of dragging out the idea Stephen Guise gets to the point on how to use what he talks about. The overall idea is this, there is no perfect answer read this book to learn how that applies in changing a habit or getting rid of an old one, mess up try again, keep moving forward no matter how imperfect.

I hope you are ready for my imperfect review. If I had to write a perfect one, you wouldn't be reading this. I made a quick decision to write it, so here I am. An imperfect review is WAY better than a perfect review that never gets written! I am learning so much from Stephen Guise and my life is spiraling upwards with great momentum. Thank you, Mr. Guise. That one push up changed not only your life but the life of anyone who is lucky enough to read your words.

This book sucks. At least that's what I thought, when I started to read the new book by author Stephen Guise. I have read his Mini Habits bestseller and was honestly stoked. But what was going on with this nice and gentle man, struggling with dating, in his new book? I didn't get into deep flow but worked my way through. If have to admit I was reading late hours.

I thought to be a master of imperfectionism already. So why was I reading this book in the first place? Probably I had some doubts concerning my perfect imperfection. And the book taught I was right doubting. This insight didn't necessarily come with the grains of wisdom I consciously collected throughout reading but with the change I'm witnessing right now. When I look from a distance I can only wonder how this has happened.

I suppose, the book has an effect on a much more subconscious level than I initially thought. To me it's a bit like confusion technique in hypnotherapy where confusion is used to destabilize hindering self-constructions and mental processes in order to allow for inner reorganization.

Of course, as title and description suggest this is a book about how to overcome perfectionism in order to live life to its fullest. The author tries hard to drive home his points. You can almost feel the sweat he has poured into his new oeuvre. But I'm afraid the author has three major flaws that mingle their way into the book:

First: He is obsessed with doing. Not that he is explicitly discrediting thinking and reflection but he seems to be promoting doing as preferable to thinking. Sure, we all think too much... in unproductive ways. The sad thing about his bias: Mr. Guise might not realize how much of the impact he unfolds stems from reorganizing mental models of his readers through his writing. But then again he might just be too polite and humble or witty to treat this aspect of his endeavour explicitly. Just have a look at his course samples on Udemy to find out how nice and humble that man is...

Second: He is obsessed with one of his main challenges: dating. He uses his experiences with approaching the other sex to illustrate his diverse tools and techniques with perseverance. Don't you feel reminded of John Irving and his wrestlers and bears? But he quite doesn't seem to get, that his tools are very potent in many situations while there are other potent tools that help moving the lever with less force and more effect at other times. How about changing the inner construction of relationships with regard to perspective? Why looking through the eyes of others all the time, instead of using our own ones? Why not following the gentle advice of Avner The Eccentric (the clown) and be interested rather than trying to be interesting? But then again, the author might just be exposing his pretended weaknesses in a flirty manner and celebrating his pretended awkwardness with applying his tools to any given challenge. And what's more, he is most probably trying to approach Christian Bale, Taylor Swift and the like.

Last: Guise doesn't seem to be aware how his funny and entertaining self-ironic style might have facilitated the success of his bestseller Mini Habits. Why else would he forget about this important style element in order to offer a somewhat dry reading experience with his second book? But then again, that might be a consequence of me not being a native speaker and not getting the subtle humour that lies deeper in the language than I can grasp.

I have to tell you, that I don't care all that much about those "flaws". I don't judge a book neither by its cover nor by its content but by its effect. This is not a novel after all but a straightforward instruction on how to drop that burden of perfectionism off your shoulders. I don't need to know how Mr. SelfDissGuise has helped me from struggling with monumental procrastination to perform with determination. It's a nice "little" miracle I accept with gratitude.

Be warned: To me this book is some funky poison. It might have a very destructive effect on your unconscious underachieving tactics. So be careful! It could really help you change into some amazing and lightweight achiever or just a very happy person.

Read it or waste your life!

Clear and very insightful. This is a book that makes us recognize the value of being only what we are: imperfect humans. It makes accept our limjtations, however, instead of accepting them, learning hkw to work with them and take the best advantage. it is a very inspiring book, and so are Stephen's texts in general. Recommended!

Let's be real-perfectionism is not a good strategy and can lead to immobilization. For me, being a mom has been my biggest dream come true. With my three great kids, I've learned much about letting go increasingly so as they get older. My middle so. I thought would be.a fat marshmallow, playing video games. No. He's incredibly fit, driven and most of all, willing to put himself out there. He just told my hubby after his most recent hockey game-you have to fail well to succeed well! Our daughter has put herself out there big time and is fearless in the making of mistakes-with friends, school and sports. This book is a funny and great tool for life!

Loved Mini-habits and now this book. Both books are my primary go-to sources when I get stuck - either discouraged or in serious procrastination/fear mode. He's clearly thoughtful about some very big issues and processes his thinking in a way very helpful to me. He's very affirmative, not preaching. Really glad that I've learned about his work.

I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles with perfectionist tendencies. The author broke down several areas of perfectionism that I didn't even realize I struggled with. He clearly identifies with the way a perfectionist mind works and writes in a way that is so relevant and engaging. I am looking forward to implementing the tools he describes in his book and taking steps towards living a content and happy life. He breaks down the action steps in such a way that is not intimidating and is very doable. I'm so thankful for this book in my life!

This is honestly my first the store book review ever. If you're a perfectionist, this book is brilliant. I feel like it will become my bible i will listen to over and over again for years to come until I master all that is in here.

And I'm not saying that in a cynical way, but factually, this is a book sized pitch for mediocrity and how to be okay with it. Kind of like the western version of zen, or "if you can't have what you like, start liking what you have". If that's your goal (and honestly, it is not a bad goal, just isn't what I want), read this book. It'll give you useful strategies for achieving peace of mind and enjoying a life without striving for extremes and being happy with with what you can get without getting out of your comfort zone.

Having listened (I got the Audible version) to this book right after "Elon Musk" by Ashlee Vance (a GREAT book) the contrast between the two philosophies couldn't be greater. Should Elon have read this book and took it to heart early in his career, we wouldn't have PayPal, Tesla and Space-X, but there would be a happy camper insignificant Elon Musk working on some minor project that he could do without "unreasonable" expectations and being such a controversial perfectionist shooting for the moon (quite literally) and refusing to give up no matter what, and refusing to settle for less no matter what. That's exactly what the book argues AGAINST. He even quotes psychology experiments that "prove" that aiming lower results in better performance (note: obviously, the selection of participants for the experiment must have skewed the result - if you design an experiment about "achievement" and only include average people, i.e. non-achievers like 99.99% of the population, then your experiment just proves that average people feel uncomfortable and perform less if they are stressed because of high expectations - the very stress that brings out the best in high achievers).

So, according to the author, the recipe for happiness is to aim for less to prevent disappointment. Really? Musk, Jobs, Bezos, Zuckerberg and many others would probably disagree. The BIG point the author misses: while MOST people don't believe that they are destined to or capable of or even need to achieve anything extraordinary (99.99% of the people are happy if they are healthy, have a happy family, no financial stress and an OK job - but you have to admit that that's really not much to aim for as one's "goals in life"), his approach, while safe for the masses, is a huge turnoff and NOT true for anyone trying to achieve BIG things.

If enough potential high achievers read this book, we can go back to hunting and gathering and be perfectly happy about it. Ironically, most of the things that made it possible for the author to create, and for me to read this book (the internet, online payments, audio books, my iPhone I used to listen to it, the store.com, etc.) wouldn't even exist if the creators of those breakthrough tools would have decided to suppress their urges to accomplishing great (always looking "unreasonable" at the time) revolutionary advancements in technology in favor of their "peace and happiness". Yet, that's what the author recommends for you and I to do.

I will admit that I AM a perfectionist and got this book because I thought it would give me strategies for getting the great results I want by being less of a perfectionist, but I got none of that from the book - instead, it tried to convince me to settle for less. No thanks.

On the other hand, if you actually are the kind of person who would trade achievements for comfort, if you don't mind not doing anything really significant with your life and you want to feel OK about it, this book will do a great job making you feel OK.

The narrator is great.

p.s. I corrected and improved this review about 30 times because I'm a perfectionist :-). If it was useful to you because it's well written, then that proves this book wrong :-)

The solutions in this book are well-thought-out. The beginning chapters are a bit dry, but once you hit chapter 4 and beyond the book gets pretty exciting and a nice, productive read. I feel like I have a plan in place to become an imperfectionist now!

The solutions in this book are well-thought-out. The beginning chapters are a bit dry, but once you hit chapter 4 and beyond the book gets pretty exciting and a nice, productive read. I feel like I have a plan in place to become an imperfectionist now!