Forget Excellent, Aim to Be Average

IF YOU SUFFER from perfectionism, or even just stress-causing high-standards, cognitive therapist David Burns urges you to do this for a day: Try to be normal. “I dare you to try to be ‘average,’” he writes in his bestseller Feeling Good. “Does the prospect seem blah and boring? … I predict two things will happen. First, you won’t be particularly successful at being ‘average.’ Second, in spite of this, you will receive substantial satisfaction from what you do. More than usual.”