ABSTRACT

This book is essential for those who are prone to high-achieving, self-starting, and perfectionistic actions; people who relentlessly, persistently, and determinedly pursue their dreams, goals, and aspirations; people who hold their high standards, principles, and values close to their heart.

Chapter by chapter, you will learn acceptance and commitment skills to harness the power of perfectionism and high-achieving behaviors while living the life you want to live. You will learn how to be yourself, keep your fears in perspective, and do meaningful things without dwelling for hours on the different ways to make things right, postponing things because they aren’t ready, struggling for days with rumination, anxiety and stress, or wrestling periodically with harsh criticisms.

This book will show you how you can give your best, work hard, and push yourself when you deeply care about things without sacrificing your well-being, hurting your relationships, or compromising your health. You will learn when to engage in high-achieving actions in an effective, life-expansive, and skillful way. You will develop a new workable relationship with all those narratives about not being good enough and treat yourself with kindness, compassion, and caring. Most importantly, you will find that you can be yourself without losing yourself.

chapter |1 pages

Introduction

section Section I|16 pages

What's Wrong With Caring Deeply?

section Section II|25 pages

Unpacking Your Personal History

chapter 6|7 pages

How Come You Care So Much?

chapter 7|3 pages

The Many Shades of Fear

chapter 8|3 pages

Mistakes, Errors, Flaws

chapter 9|3 pages

A Special Type of Fear

chapter 10|4 pages

Mental Rubrics

chapter 11|3 pages

Personal Narratives

section Section III|22 pages

Harnessing the Power of High-Achieving and Perfectionistic Actions

section Section IV|15 pages

The Workability Game

chapter 19|7 pages

Learning About It

chapter 20|3 pages

Playing It

chapter 21|3 pages

Committing to It

section Section V|51 pages

Pause and Play

chapter 22|3 pages

The Great Escape

chapter 23|3 pages

Fleeting Feelings

chapter 24|3 pages

Seizing and Freezing

chapter 25|2 pages

Overly Protective Friends

chapter 26|2 pages

To Buy or Not to Buy?

chapter 27|2 pages

Hold Them Lightly, Really!

chapter 28|3 pages

99 Percent

chapter 29|2 pages

This-Or-That Thoughts

chapter 30|3 pages

Minding and Unwinding

chapter 31|3 pages

Mini-Me Stories

chapter 32|2 pages

Terrible Feelings

chapter 33|2 pages

Pleased to Meet You!

chapter 34|3 pages

Plus and Minus

chapter 36|3 pages

Daring to Be Kind!

chapter 38|3 pages

Less Chasing, More Choosing

chapter 39|3 pages

When-Then Thoughts

chapter 40|2 pages

Tough Choices Need Kindness

section Section VI|44 pages

Onward and Upward!

chapter 41|2 pages

Messy Moments

chapter 42|3 pages

Living With Not Knowing

chapter 43|3 pages

Undoing Decidophobia

chapter 44|3 pages

Tackling Procrastination

chapter 45|2 pages

Tough Love!

chapter 46|3 pages

Let's Move

chapter 47|4 pages

To Quit or Not to Quit

chapter 48|4 pages

Finding Your Rhythm

chapter 49|4 pages

Little Tidbits

chapter 50|2 pages

Sweet Contradictions

chapter 51|3 pages

Sugarcoating Moments

chapter 52|3 pages

O-VER-RE-SPON-SIBIL-I-TY

chapter 53|4 pages

Doing Less, Living More

chapter |2 pages

Final Words