Clarity from Chaos

By: Dave Campbell

Captain Perfection

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Interview with Mr. Julian Reeve

It’s estimated that over 30% of the world’s population struggles with perfectionism. Alarmingly, perfectionism in American, Canadian, and British college students rose by 32% between 1989 and 2016 alone. For many, these habits start even younger.

Yet for adults and children alike, the drive to “be perfect” comes at a price, including low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and even life-threatening physical ailments.   

No one knows this better than self-professed perfectionist JULIAN REEVE, whose high standards propelled him to the top 1% of his industry as music director of the Broadway hit Hamilton—and triggered a heart attack shortly after.

Now a healthy, healed, and sought-after speaker on perfectionism, Reeve offers fresh perspectives on how perfectionism is both perceived and managed. He’s standing by to share: 

  • Why addressing perfectionism is vital for our health and prosperity
  • How reframing perfectionism helps us achieve more in healthier ways
  • The key word that unlocks our perfectionistic potential
  • Why perfectionism can make or break a business—and what leaders can do about it
  • Strategies for parents to help young perfectionists develop robust and healthy coping techniques early on

JULIAN REEVE is a former music director of the Broadway musical Hamilton turned perfectionism contributor, speaker, and author of Captain Perfection & the Secret of Self-Compassion: A Self-Help Book for the Young Perfectionist. Visit www.julianreeve.com for more information on self-compassion and other perfectionism solutions.

Interview with Mr. Julian Reeve

Reason – Purpose – Self-Esteem

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Take a look around. Are you angry, frustrated, and tired of the circumstances surrounding you? Well, you are not alone. I think we should all do a “Howard Beale”- – open our windows and shout, “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!” Now that we have vented our outrage it is time we take our anger to a more productive solution. Each and everyone one of us needs to become an Army of One. We need to help re-establish the basic concepts that gave birth to this great country we live in, like self-determination and individualism. We need to expect honor and integrity from the individuals we entrust to represent us. We need to stop allowing an elite few to tell us who or what should represent us. In short, we need to re-capture our birthright.

In Ayn Rand’s book, Atlas Shrugged, she concluded there are three basic tenets of individualism: Reason, Purpose, and Self Esteem. We have allowed Madison Avenue to convince us their reason is ours. This is, in part, because we have become lazy and willing to let someone else do our thinking for us. It is time you remembered you are a perfect, magnificent individual, capable of greatness and not the bungling boob depicted on television every night. Allow yourself to think. Couple that with your heart and you are well on your way to being a source of consternation to those constantly trying to steal your power.

Your purpose is very simple –to have a life full of joy and abundance. You do not need someone telling you what is, or is not, correct. It is already carried within you from past generations to your own current experience. Whatever you do, do with a passion. If what you are doing is not what you want to do, then CHOOSE to do something different. Always remember, however, “that work is love made visible.”

Do not doubt your worthiness. Do not allow some Madison Avenue hack to determine your worthiness. You are a unique, marvelous individual, and whether it is Madison Avenue or the government, they seek to control you. So, maintain your self-esteem. Do not give that control to anyone because they will surely drown you in their own quest for mediocrity.

I mentioned earlier becoming an Army of One, which is what I am going to be henceforth. It is what is required. Mark Levin has written a book I believe goes a long way in helping re-establish our individualism: The Liberty Amendments – Restoring the American Republic. It is to this effort I will devote all my energy because it holds those three tenets of individuality: Reason, Purpose, and Self-Esteem.

Interview with Ms. Christina Steinorth

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Some of your most productive employees—people who are organized, good at solving problems, thoughtful, focused, and efficient—may need a little extra support from leaders. That’s because they’re introverted, which makes it challenging for them to work well with others.

Psychotherapist, author, and relationship expert Christina Steinorth, MA, MFT, will share some steps that can make a difference in the way introverts interact at work and how others respond to them.

These tips can help you coach the introverts in your workplace to their potential, which can in turn lead to a more balanced and productive workplace!

What goes boo in the night?

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Fear is the most debilitating four letter word in the English language. We all suffer from it in small or very large ways. The word fear needs to be distinguished from being afraid because they are two very separate things. Being afraid is a very natural response to either an internal or external threat, real or imagined but fear contains a much broader area of discussion.

For the sake of this discussion I am going to speak about our internal fears, such as inadequacy, acceptance, self doubt, lack of self esteem and the like. Now mind you I am not a scholar or a clinical psychologist or medical person of any kind, just someone who has come to recognize fear and its impediment to action.

Let me begin by stating simply and for the record, my biggest fear is self doubt and not measuring up to my father. An explanation is probably in order here. My dad was larger than life, a man who grew up in a blue collar home. He finished high school while in the military and became an electrician after coming home from Korea. He was a man who saw no gray areas in life, only good and bad, right or wrong. In my eyes, he was John Wayne and the Marlboro Man all rolled into one. But he was also a hard man, one who did not express compliments or praise. Consequently, I never really understood if my mere achievements were worthy of merit or not. Hence a very large dose of self doubt, through my teen years and on through my young adulthood.

The hardness my father had instilled in me would be present the day I stood at the foot of his hospital bed and listened to the doctor’s prognosis. The life support system he was on was the only thing keeping him alive. My mom could not bear the news and the decision to end the life support fell to me, the oldest. Knowing my father, his life, and what the right thing to do was, I quietly walked over and turned off the system. At that point, I realized what all the teaching, discipline and hard lessons had been for a reason. They had brought me to this point in time where I had the courage to face my fear and do what was needed.

Now I would be remiss to say that all of my fears disappeared that day because they did not. Being this frail human I suffer from the same fears that everyone else does, but I do know what it takes to overcome them, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so successfully.

If you have reached this point, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this. I must however offer a disclaimer, this was not written to illict sympathy, nor was it written as some cathartic exercise to remove my own personal demons. It was written to let you know that you are not alone. That the challenges or fears you face, however great or small can be conquered. It is all a matter of choice. You have been given the ability to make those choices. Create the life you want starting now.

Start by looking up and asking GOD for forgiveness. Then ask for courage and grace. Say a prayer every day and say Thank You because you have the ability, if you choose to conquer your fears and bring joy and peace into your life.

More to come….