Being a perfectionist isn’t easy. You might start stressing out and be put off doing things because you’re afraid of failure. Work, school, and personal life become difficult because it takes you too long to accomplish things or you give up before you even start.

Maybe you’ve realized that you’re being too hard on yourself, or maybe you just you could take it easier. Whatever the case, if you consider yourself a perfectionist these five books will give you incredible life-changing insight.

1. “BIG MAGIC” by Elizabeth Gilbert.

If you struggle with taking risks or starting new projects because you’re afraid they won’t be good enough, this is the book for you. The author teaches you to overcome that fear, because achieving a goal is the biggest accomplishment of all (even if it isn’t perfect). It’s especially geared towards creative types and the book is meant to give lessons on unleashing your creativity.

 And the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, has one of the most inspirational stories of all - you’ve probably heard of her other book, Eat, Pray, Love, which stayed on the New York Times best seller list for 187 weeks and turned into a hit movie.

2. “PRESENT OVER PERFECT” by Shauna Niequist.

Society is constantly pushing us to work harder, faster, and achieve more all while making it look easy. It’s a strenuous task that gets many of us down and pushes us into overdrive. This warm and encouraging book will help you slow down the pace of your life and reevaluate your priorities.

It teaches us to value simplicity, soulfulness, and living in the present. It’s perfectly fine, healthy even, to disregard societal pressure. You’ll end up much happier in the long run.

3.   “THE GIFT OF IMPERFECTION” by Brene Brown.

This is an intelligent and challenging book that will lead to a lot of self-reflection. It’s not truly a self-help book as it doesn’t offer a step-by-step guide or exercises, but it shares the author’s principles. It teaches you about self-compassion and self-love, gratitude, resilience, and other important qualities for battling the stress and anxiousness that come with always being hard on yourself.

4. “THE PURSUIT OF PERFECT” by Tal Ben-Shahar.

This book teaches us two sides of perfection: perfectionism and optimalism. While a perfectionist is never satisfied until something is perfect, an optimalist strives for perfection but realizes that it’s never 100% possible. And that’s ok. Each chapter has exercises and thought-provoking questions that will help you explore your perfectionism, and guide you into becoming an optimalist instead.

5. “HOW TO BE AN IMPERFECTIONIST” by Stephen Guise.

This book talks about the problems associated with perfectionism while offering simple solutions and new mini habits to overcome them. Sometimes it’s just a matter of simple rewording, like telling yourself ‘I should have’ instead of ‘I could have’. It makes the task of adopting a new mindset very doable.

Having these books will teach you to embrace yourself for who you are, as well as accepting your flaws. It’s great to strive for excellence, and with the right knowledge, you’ll be able to do it in a way that’s kind to yourself.