ish: The Problem with our Pursuit for Perfection and the Life-Changing Practice of Good Enough
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley June 17, 2019
Author Lynne Cazaly
Distributor: Woodstone
ISBN: 9780648297314
Publisher: Lynne Cazaly
Release Date: Jun 2019
Website: http://www.lynnecazaly.com.au/
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At last, a book devoted to common sense as it applies to the world of ‘perfection’ created by the so very imperfect people, whom, in their pursuit of the unattainable God ‘perfection’, lose sight of life, reality and the very real concept of ‘ISH’.
In ISH, international keynote speaker, author and a master facilitator Lynne Cazaly, introduces the concept of near enough to the world of business and everyday life, showing how to achieve much more, by caring less, but still being able to deliver a high standard of work.
She addresses the very real and debilitating effects of ‘perfection’, a state of mind which is now considered as a mental condition, one which is on the rise and one that can have some serious consequences as to how we as people, view ourselves and our input to everyday life and work.
Perfection is a state which has been created to dangerous levels over the past twenty years, which ultimately does not achieve all that it may be considered to achieve, generally ends up in a total state of inertia and fails to get very much done, because by always trying to make everything ‘perfect’, nothing is ever complete.
Everyone has been caught up in the situation of ‘if I just did…..’ whether it is on the home front, writing a book, involved in a project or simply trying to fulfil the rather unreal expectations of a senior staff member or manager.
But what to be done and how to find the way to being able to achieve more, accept that there is no such thing as perfection and be able to enjoy and accept that good enough, or Ish can make life so much more worthwhile, productive and enjoyable.
Cazaly says that excellence at work, home or play should be the standard to achieve, but excellence is something very different to perfection. Excellence can be achieved whereas perfection cannot!
She looks at all aspects of ‘pursuing perfectionism’ and why we are driven to try and discover it, or achieve it, how we get trapped like flies on sticky flypaper, and then offers nine ways of alternative thought patterns to discover a life based on the interesting state of mind you will come to know as Ish.
It is so terribly easy to get caught up in the pursuit of perfectionism, especially in the aggressive world of today, but the reality is encapsulated in the single word coined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Herbert Simon from satisfactory and suffice, ‘satisficing’, which means, ‘That’s satisfactory. That will suffice’.
There are some great quotes throughout the book which is full of those wonderful ‘light bulb’ moments; moments that create wholesome change.
Ish is all about caring less about more. Brilliant and a great mantra to carry into and forward for a healthy, happy, productive life.