Review
We live in an increasingly demanding and competitive society that forces us to give our best if we want to stand out or simply go with the flow.
This demand is often internalized by people in an obsessive way and they begin to become overly perfectionists, they are involved in a toxic perfection that ends up destroying their self-esteem, they do not achieve the established objectives and destroy their friendships because they are too demanding with all those around them.
Wanting to do things well is a virtue but obsessing over doing them perfect it can turn into a mental illness.
The book is structured in four parts:
1) First part:
It explains what perfectionism consists of, what aspects of it are good and how it can lead us to obsession and the destruction of our self-esteem. In this sense, he talks about different types of perfectionist personalities, specifically he talks about two types: the "excessive" and the "constructive".
2) Second part:
It tells us about different types of perfectionism and various statements that the toxic perfectionist takes for granted and that are totally wrong and unreal.
3) Third part:
He talks about the various implications that this toxic perfectionism has in the different areas of our life: family, work ... He also talks about what kind of mental problems this obsession to do everything perfect brings about: anxiety, depression ...
4) Fourth part:
It gives us a series of keys so that we can integrate perfectionism in a healthier and more useful way in our life that helps us achieve the goals we set for ourselves. It also teaches us to deal with people who suffer from this toxic perfectionism.
Technical data
Publisher: Urano
Number of pages: 216
Binding: softcover
ISBN: 9788479537364
Edition year: 2010
Price: EUR 13
Opinion
A book that can be very useful for those people who are too perfectionists and what a result of it they get stuck, for their actions are never to their liking.
It makes a very good portrait of that toxic perfectionist personality but at the same time offers you an alternative, It gives you a series of keys on how to become a healthy perfectionist who can afford to make a mistake and learn from it to do things better and better.
“While I was following a pole vault competition on television, I understood a little better the risk of failure that lies in wait for us when we set the bar too high.
In the pole vault, the same competitor sets the height of the bar from which he begins to jump. For example, an athlete who knows that he can reach 5,90 m, will start jumping with the bar at 5,70 m and then, if successful, he will raise the height of the bar by 5 by 5 cm. »
The problem with many of us is that we set the bar too high and when we do not achieve the proposed objectives we feel frustrated and this damages our self-esteem. You have to start like the pole vaulter: little by little and raise the bar.
“It's about taking a first step out of your excessive perfectionism and certainly not about looking for a radical change all at once. Ask yourself, for example: «What will happen to me if I keep about 90 percent of my current perfectionism and agree to be a little less perfectionist in the remaining 10 percent of my life? " Perhaps perfection is not as indispensable as you think. It is not only necessary to do less things, but also to do them less perfectly. "
