TL;DR

Replace obligations (e.g. “I have to”, “I need to”, “I must”) with GET (“I GET to”).

Replace rituals and superstitions (“I cannot work without —”, “I cannot start without —”, “I do my best work under [insert conditions]”) with preferences (“I’d prefer to have coffee in the morning, but I can do great work without it”, “I’d prefer to be liked by everyone, but I can still enjoy my life”, “I’d prefer to have everything planned ahead of time, but I can deal with things as they come”).

Whom am I speaking to? Who is this going to help?

Rigid people are easily overwhelmed and rely on perfectionism to avoid dealing with chaos of the natural world.

My Practical Experience

I was the type of kid who, in middle school, would calculate the exact amount of grams of food I would eat, and meticulously track each gram of macronutrient for “optimal” performance.

While this rigidity helped in getting things done, it made me extremely high maintenance and shy; if everything was not perfect, then I would rather sit and wait for the next opportunity, rather than dealing with the cards I have now.

In a paradox way, this hyperefficent way of living was actually wasting more time, because I would simply dismiss opportunities simply because I felt like I was not ready. Meanwhile, there were kids who simply knew about this natural chaos of the world was were able to ride the waves of chaos with ease–they were the people I secretly envied because (1) if they succeeded in something, it was effortless (2) if they lost, it did not matter because they were never really trying in the first place.

Thanks for the advice, now how can I practically put this to use in a simple way for daily execution?

Simply change your vocabulary by using “get” and “preferences” in place of absolute statements.

The words you think influence the actions (or inactions) you take.