Hello, I'm Evalldo Aguiar, founder of I am healthy, and let me tell you a secret: I too have been a victim of perfectionist behavior, without even realizing it.
Maybe you can relate: when I was given a task, instead of focusing on execution and priorities, I ended up spending time on planning and irrelevant details. What was supposed to be a simple and quick thing ended up becoming dense and tiring.
Maintaining this behavior intensely for many years led me to a paralysis of productivity, burnout, anxiety, little energy for leisure, with accelerated thoughts and out of shape. That's when I decided to put an end to it and dedicate myself to taking care of myself.
Believe me, I hated reading! But I decided to give this habit a chance, bought several books and over time, I discovered that it was an incredible way to expand my mind and have access to different perspectives, techniques and find solutions.
Among all the books I read, two were especially important in my journey of deconstructing the perfectionist mindset. And it is about them that I will share now.
If you are a person who feels stuck in these perfectionist patterns, these books can be the starting point for a significant change in your life, just like it was in mine!
The Tenho Saúde guide to perfectionism!
But first, I would like to remind you that the team of professionals at Tenho Saúde developed a complete guide to perfectionism.
The guide covers the causes, symptoms, as well as providing treatment techniques and tips that really work, and also lists which ones professionals are indicated for monitoring.
If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend you do. clicking here or post below.
Book: Essentialism
One of the first books I read and the most impactful was “Essentialism: The Discipline Searches for Less”, written by Greg Mckeown.
This book helped me realize that the relentless pursuit of perfection was preventing me from achieving my goals and gave me practical insights into how to deconstruct this mindset that I will share with you now.
Pay close attention to this image:
The drawing featured on page 14 is a powerful metaphor in a world where we are bombarded with distractions and perfectionist choices.
By applying our energy to multiple things, we are spreading ourselves thin and moving away from our goals. If we try to do everything at once, we end up making little progress in any area of our lives.
However, if we focus on what is essential, we can go further than we ever imagined.
By applying this metaphor to my life, I was able to ask myself: What is the direction I am going to go in? What is my most important goal, and how can I focus on it? What unnecessary things can I eliminate to complete this task or commitment?
Opportunity metaphor
That analogy will perfectly exemplify the concept from the book for a perfectionist person.
Let's assume that every opportunity in life is a fruit, a common opportunity is the size of an orange, how many oranges can you hold in your hand?
Each task, opportunity, commitment that we take on is an orange that is added to our hands, but one day an incredible opportunity will appear, the best of all, which I will represent in the size of a watermelon.
How will you hold a watermelon if you are already holding dozens of oranges? But if even though you are holding all the oranges, you still accept the watermelon, will you have the strength to hold them all for long?
A perfectionist person, in their eagerness to do everything and not miss any opportunity, accepts them all, increasing the possibility of losing them or not evolving at all.
Essentialist concept
Being an essentialist consists of rejecting the idea that you can do and accept everything, eliminating what is not essential and removing obstacles so that the things that are truly essential take priority.
The author teaches, through simple and easy-to-understand stories and techniques, how to focus on what is really important in our lives, reducing information overload.
If you are someone who strives to be perfect at everything and feels like it prevents you from focusing on what really matters, the book Essentialism is indispensable for you to find the path to a more meaningful and light life.
Click here to access the book link Essentialism on Amazon.
Book: The One Thing
Another book that helped me overcome perfectionist habits was “The One Thing”, written by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.
Before reading this book, I was always multitasking and feeling overwhelmed. However, after applying the techniques taught in the book, I was able to focus on one important task at a time and achieve my goals more efficiently.
Perfectionists often feel paralyzed by the idea that they need to do every task at once and perfectly.
Imagine how amazing it would be if, instead of feeling overwhelmed and stressed by doing several things at the same time, you could focus on just one thing and do that task with excellence and performance.
In this book, we will learn how we can apply this principle in our daily lives. It is a simple and powerful way to understand that success is built sequentially and not simultaneously.
They offer a simple framework to help people identify their “one thing” and how to focus on it. The authors also teach techniques for eliminating distractions and establishing healthy habits to achieve success.
This book completely changed my approach to achieving my goals and helped me deal with the perfectionist tendencies that had held me back for so long.
Click here to access the book link The only thing on Amazon.
Precautions:
It is important to remember that reading, as amazing as it is, is just one of the solutions available to help overcome negative habits and behaviors.
Also remember that overcoming negative habits and behaviors is a daily process and entirely possible with the right information and commitment.
It is important to understand that there are other treatments that can be effective, such as therapy, medications, lifestyle changes, and other approaches; and that it is important to seek medical help if you are facing more serious problems.
The Tenho Saúde team of professionals developed a Complete Guide to the Causes and Symptoms of Perfectionism, bringing valuable approaches and behaviors to help you identify and treat this behavior. In addition, we list professionals who can assist you in this process.
Click here or in the post below to access.
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