Papercuts

In a world obsessed with fixing trauma and chasing peak performance, we've missed the point entirely.

We spend years trying to heal our past or outsmart the future, while quietly neglecting the only version of us with any real power: the one who's here now. Papercuts peels back the layers of modern burnout, emotional erosion, and high-functioning numbness to reveal the tiny, daily self-betrayals that quietly steal your agency, clarity, and presence.

Written with gut-punch honesty and soul-level vulnerability, Brent Perkins—once a hard-driving CEO, now a leadership alchemist—invites you into an unfiltered reckoning. No quick fixes. No guru gloss. Just a raw, illuminating confrontation with the invisible decisions that cost us the most. Unlike traditional self-help, Papercuts doesn’t teach you to heal your inner child, it shows you how to stop abandoning your inner adult.

Inside you’ll discover:

- Why “I’m fine” is the most dangerous lie we tell ourselves

- How over-functioning becomes self-abandonment

- The trap of performance without presence

- Why agency is your birthright and how to reclaim it

- Practical tools to stop outsourcing your peace, power, and clarity

- How choosing yourself—fully, finally, unapologetically—becomes the doorway to self-love and deeper connection with everyone around you

Uniquely positioned at the intersection of midlife transformation, emotional health, and leadership psychology, it’s for those ready to stop numbing, stop performing, and finally embrace self-leadership. If you’re a high-performing leader, overwhelmed achiever, or someone who’s “doing everything right” but still feels hollow… this book is your wake-up call.

Papercuts is a must-listen for fans of:

The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer

The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck* by Mark Manson