The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever by Cooper Lawrence

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Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

One of the challenges of being an overachiever and trying to maintain healthy friendships is that we judge ourselves at an impossibly high level, and we tend to judge our friends at that same level. If they don’t measure up, we are disappointed; we expected more from them. If you’re driven to perfect your life, that’s cool, but just be aware that it may be driving your friends bananas. Perhaps they’re so easygoing they don’t mind that you have expectations even St Frances Xavier Cabrini would fail to live up to. But that doesn’t quell your anxiety – in fact, it makes you wonder if it’s time for new friends who aren’t so laid-back. It’s not, because this is your issue, and it’s time you asked yourself whether anybody can live up to your expectations. You need to step back and judge clearly whether your friends have truly failed you or, like the rest of us, are simply flawed human beings (albeit ones who would give you the last piece of chocolate cake regardless of how PMS they are feeling that day).

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One in six women is an overachiever, constantly striving to get more done and do everything better and faster, while looking fabulous at all times—so if you are looking around the room at your five closest friends thinking they’re all slackers, it’s you!

Twenty-four hours are simply not enough for all you do in a day. Your calendar is booked solid for the next six months. You set a higher standard for yourself than for everyone else, and you are never fully satisfied with your life, because you can see how much more you can achieve. You are an overacheiver, and that can be a
good thing.

The Cult of Perfection offers practical advice on how to monitor and ease your stress, prioritize your time, build lasting self-esteem, and always feel in control. The goal: To be at peace with your inner overachiever. Psychology and relationship expert (and self-professed overachiever) Cooper Lawrence reveals the positive aspects of an overachieving lifestyle, and how to make it work for you so that you don’t lose touch with family and friends . . . and your own sanity.
This book explores how personality, upbringing, and life events lead to overachieving, and how this drive has an impact on your home and family life, friendships, health, state of mind—and even your future.

Full of candid personal stories from fellow overachievers, The Cult of Perfection confirms that you are not alone in your quest for the best. Informative quizzes, tips, and “to do” lists all provide empowering tools for effectively managing your busy lifestyle.

So set aside some time in your schedule, step off the treadmill, and learn how todelegate, balance your needs, set priorities—and discover that you’re so much more than your achievements.