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-read 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

Papercuts also serves as the foundational text for Brent's broader work at 3xBold and his Osmotic Leadership™ methodology—where strategy, soul, and systems converge to help leaders build unshakeable internal capacity. Consider this your entry point into a larger conversation about what it means to lead from wholeness rather than woundedness.

FAIR WARNING: This book will cost you your favorite lies. Pick up a copy when you're done pretending everything's fine.