Customer Reviews

Beating the Success Trap: Negotiating for the Life You Really Want and the Rewards You Deserve

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Ed Brodow's book is a real life changer! For some time I'd been struggling with the question of whether success=happiness. I knew something was missing in that equation but didn't know what. "The Success Trap" put everything in perspective and helped me find answers to many questions I hadn't the wisdom or courage to ask myself. Ed's wisdom can lead you to having a five-star life too.

I just completed reading Ed Brodow's book! It is rare for me to pick up a book and read it all the way through without taking breaks in between to read or do other things. I read his book in its entirety with great joy. I appreciated the flow and ease of his words and the deeper meaning behind them. Beating the Success Trap has a solid purpose and message about getting real with yourself and what success means to you authentically. Ed gives you the deeper insights and examples on how to get there.

In Beating the Success Trap, Ed Brodow tells the hard-hitting truth about the many ways that striving for "career success" can lead to feelings of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and failure. He also shows how to free yourself from hidden traps to create a very happy and fulfilling life for yourself. I urge everyone to read, use, and benefit from Ed's wisdom and insights!
Al Siebert, Ph.D.
Director of The Resiliency Center

This fabulous book was definitely ahead of its time when it was first published in 2003. The author's message rings incredibly true for millions of people who are trying to survive in today's recession/depression. Instead of blaming yourself for being a failure, Brodow suggests that you redefine what it means to be a success. He courageously challenges the traditional definition of success (fame and fortune) and challenges the reader to arrive at a personal definition. You are a true success, he suggests, when you "experience the deep satisfaction and happiness of knowing that right here, right now, you spend your time doing what is meaningful to you." It has little to do with how much money you earn or how big your house is or whether you appear on the evening news. The outdated definition of success, he explains, has conned millions into leading lives that do not provide personal satisfaction. He offers excellent examples of people who have it all but who do not feel satisfied with their careers, marriages, etc., and instead are forced down a path of depression, addiction, and violence. Brodow then offers the reader many practical ways to re-evaluate and re-invent your life, most significantly the use of intuition or "gut feeling" to get in touch with your true self and what you really want your life to be. If you read the other reviews, you will see how people have found great comfort in this book (with one notable exception who obviously missed the whole point, but then there are some people who think Mozart was a hack and Hemingway was boring.) The highlights of Beating the Success Trap are Brodow's exposure of the rampant abuse in our culture, his reframing the value of failing (in order to learn), and his concept of not giving away your power by sticking to the "Confidence Mystique." The payoff, he says, is the "existential orgasm," a peak experience that awaits those of us who have the courage to live life consciously, according to our own values. Do yourself a huge favor and read this book so you can enjoy that experience. I am amazed that Beating the Success Trap is no longer a best-seller. It is out of print, but copies are available and hopefully a savvy publisher will pick up the rights and put it out there again so more people can benefit from its wisdom.

I'll condense this entire book into one sentence for you: follow your dreams, do what you love in life, and don't let other people define your idea of happiness and success. Thanks. Nice message, but I could have gotten that advice from Brodow's "bubbe" over a nice bowl of chicken soup or from any cracker-barrel philosopher worth his salt. This was a useless book, with a limited message stretched over a grueling 259 pages, printed solely to cash in on the lucrative self-help market.