This should be required reading for anyone struggling with perfectionism. Good Enough is indeed actually good enough. This is a book that I'll be hand-selling (virtually) to many homeschooling teachers.

We live in an imperfect world. And we ourselves are imperfect beings. I found this a useful and thoughtful addition to other works I have read on the subjection of perfection in our lives. A good read.

I really enjoyed this author's unique, well-researched take on perfectionism. Whereas many books focus on "fixing" perfectionism, this book explores the origins of it, with an emphasis on society's role in its proliferation. The author makes a strong argument for consumerism's role in fostering unrealistic standards of perfection.

The chapters covering social media and college were particularly interesting to me as a parent. However, I finished the book with an uneasy feeling as the author didn't offer a very optimistic view of the future. I would love a follow-up book exploring creative ways to steer society away from perfectionism in the future.

THE PERFECTION TRAP by Thomas Curran is subtitled "Embracing the Power of Good Enough" and Curran, a professor of psychology at the London School of Economics, uses different sections of this relatively slim text to define perfectionism and what it does to us, to outline some possible causes, and to offer suggestions for embracing imperfection. It is an ambitious task and the main culprits – the economy, social media, and advertising – which Curran cites offer many examples with most people "seemingly gluttons for punishment," resulting in "epidemics of burnout and mental distress." In a generally accessible manner, Curran combines personal stories and experiences with the results of academic studies to bolster his points. For example, he references the phrase "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" and its recent ubiquitous nature, saying "we've taken it for granted that perfectionism hurts because we think that hurt, far from being destructive, is the secret to a life well lived." Also of particular interest are college students' perfectionism scores on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale: self-oriented and other-oriented scores have risen over time, but not as dramatically as those for socially-prescribed perfectionism. Notes on references like Jean Twenge's work on the role of smartphones, comprise roughly twenty percent of the text.

Curran's popular TedTalk speech gives some background and could be a helpful discussion starter for students:
https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_curran_our_dangerous_obsession_with_perfectionism_is_getting_worse?language=en

Although perfection is not attainable, many of us are caught in the rat race of life trying to achieve it. The reality is, we need to be true to ourselves. The Perfection Trap by Thomas Curran attempts to show individuals how to lead a life more fulfilled and content and less focused on being perfect. The book starts with a description of perfectionism and what it does to us; meaning physically, socially, and psychologically. The information that is shared in this book comes from personal experiences, psychological studies, data, and anecdotal evidence. There is a wealth of information presented in this book which makes it a reliable resource. This book attempts to help you eventually gain self-acceptance and to gain joy. While initially, I was concerned with the amount of statistics and studies that would be presented in this book (as explained in the prologue), and I thought that I would fine it boring and tedious, Professor Curran did a nice job of intermixing the statistics and studies in with anecdotes, stories, and other vignettes. The different subtypes of perfectionism was interesting to note, and to decipher which subtype I presented as. I was more interested in how to decrease my perfectionistic nature, and not as interested in the effects that culture, politics, and advertising play into my beliefs. This book would not be well suited for someone looking for a self-help book on eradicating perfectionistic beliefs, but more suited for someone that is interested in how culture and politics also play a role in embodying perfectionism and the rat race. Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Being a self-described perfectionist myself, I was immediately drawn to this book. "The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough", by Thomas Curran, is a fantastic resource for those who are looking to figure out why they are the way they are and what they can do about it. I was interested to read the difference between self-oriented perfectionism and socially-prescribed perfectionism. It completely makes sense that there's a strong correlation between anxiety and perfectionism, and I can totally understand how social media has caused the rates of perfectionism to skyrocket. I especially appreciated the author's warnings about self sabotage and the likelihood of diminishing returns.

While this book was more scientific than practical in my opinion, I still think it had a lot of very interesting information and was quite helpful. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a must-have resource to help one improve mental health, resiliency, and live a more full and happy life. It is full of great strategies, advice, and easy to implement ideas. This is one I'll return to again and again. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.