Exercise Three: Do Something Badly.

In order not to be cowed by imperfection, you must not only accept the imperfect, but seek it.

Try this: Choose something you've always wanted to do—paint, jog, whatever. Now set out to do this thing really badly. Your inner perfectionist may erupt in violent protest. Thank her for sharing, then reward yourself for daring to do a terrible job. An even better option is the buddy system: Commit with a friend that you'll both do something really terribly, then praise each other for following through.

If you have the guts to do this, you'll find that contrary to conventional wisdom, people love you when you're openly imperfect.