The perfect life does not exist, but it can still be fulfilling despite various challenges. Stressful periods, chronic pain, illnesses, and relationship problems are unwelcome aspects of life for many people, who tirelessly and often fruitlessly strive for their disappearance. Steven C. Hayes has dedicated over 30 years of his research life to the question of how we can escape the tyranny of self-optimization. How we can learn to accept the unwelcome elements of our lives and use the power released by this acceptance for other purposes. The impetus for his psychology of acceptance and flexibility came from his own panic attacks, which he could not combat through conventional means. "A Change of Mind" tells the story of the passion of an extraordinary researcher and provides strategies from ACT to help accept life in all its facets and realign it.