Amazon.com: The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever: Cooper Lawrence: Books

Product Description
For some women, success is a relative term. One in six women is an overachiever, constantly striving to do more, better, faster, and look 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! You know who you are: the successful woman who feels competitive with her own friends and family members; the stick-thin athlete who won't stop working out; the guilt-ridden executive who always feels she has to do more than others to stay ahead; the grown-up "Little Miss Perfect" who can't stop being the Stepford wife and mother. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you achieve, your life remains totally out of balance. Achievements should not be the total measure of how a woman feels about herself.

Syndicated radio talk-show host Cooper Lawrence has been there. With humor and compassion, she helps readers assess the overachiever's goals, their states of mind, the pressure from their families . . . and lets them know it's not a bad thing to be an overachiever--some people are just born that way! Cooper's book defines the physical and emotional effects of someone who suffers from the big "O," explains why she does it, and offers a reality check and advice on creating balance. With common sense and "Tales from the Treadmill" case studies, this book explores the best ways to do it all and still achieve real success--self-acceptance.

From the Inside Flap

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 to delegate, balance your needs, set priorities—and discover that you’re so much more than your achievements.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: skirt!; 1st edition (January 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599211793
ISBN-13: 978-1599211794
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 1.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (150 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #886,574 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
overachieving lifestyle, overachieving women, classic overachievers

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Cult of Perfection, The Effect, Life Events, The Role of Upbringing, The Influence of Self-Esteem, Overachieving Out of Necessity, The Role of Personality, Big Five, Margaret Sanger, Mary Ainsworth, Gifted Girl

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Customer Reviews

150 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(135)

Average Customer Review

1.2 out of 5 stars (150 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3,309 of 3,340 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Money, January 23, 2008

By	Kevin Leistman (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a pointless read and filled with old, rehashed ideas. Cooper Lawrence offers no new insight to the deeper problems that cause someone to need to be an over achiever. There are many other books out there that were written by actual practicing psychologists and which are respected by the psychological community at large. I seriously recommend Codependent No More by Melody Beattie for anyone that stuggles with this. Also, going to an actual licensed psychologist may be the answer.

Please don't contribute to the rash of pop psychology that promises quick fixes and delivers little or no results.

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560 of 562 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just Plain Bad, January 24, 2008

By	Jimmy Palmer (Oxford) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cooper is at best only interesting in superficial qualities of life. It truly disturbs me that this woman is held up as a role model for young women in this country. Her advice is heard by many, many young women across this country despite that fact that Cooper has very little real world psychological experience. Essentially this women went straight from college into the entertainment industry: talk radio, magazines, and tabloid news television. As of the writing of this review she has yet to complete her Doctorate.

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456 of 457 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, January 24, 2008

By	Robert Rottmann (Norwalk, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this title as a gift for my mother, as she is a successful driven business woman who would be able to glean any useful information from almost any publish work. After she completed it, she told me that this book unfortunately falls into the small group of works categorized as 'completely useless'. Not only are the theories and suggestions completely unresearched and unsupported, she uses her on air personality as a means to make her statements credible. There are many books available on the subject that are far superior, I see no reason to waste the money to purchase or time to read this one.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Laugh Out Loud
I know it's immature to say, but a woman who can't do simple research on a multi-million dollar video game is not one to turn to for a book. Read more

Published 2 days ago by Sami Rod Eshtehardi

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth even a single moment of your time
Just don't waste your time. Cooper Lawrence is a closed-minded, self-righteous, uninteresting, morality-imposing waste of space.

Published 8 days ago by M. Farese

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time. Waste of Money. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.
This woman's asinine outlook on everything is frankly appalling. Whoever published this woman's "book" (And I use that word VERY, VERY loosely) ought to have their head examined... Read more

Published 13 days ago by Michael T. Blackwell

1.0 out of 5 stars She doesn't know her facts
This type of psychology isn't the correct type for her. She should stick with video game analyzing.

She helped me find out that M games are for everyone and told me... Read more

Published 15 days ago by Cynthia A. King

1.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
This book is excellent for starting fires, I bought several from the bargain bin for my beach bbq.

Published 15 days ago by Sarah_Why

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is horrible.
I have never read this book, but I heard it was just spectacularly awful from Fox News, and I trust them implicitly.

By the way, Mass Effect 2 is going to be awesome.

Published 22 days ago by chris b chicken

1.0 out of 5 stars Just... failure...
Mrs. Lawrence, I haven't read your book but it completely sucks. I for one feel that it should be kept out of the hands of impressionable young women for fear that they too might... Read more

Published 22 days ago by temidien

1.0 out of 5 stars Misplaced
This review is nice and simple. She cannot even do proper research for a video game, so how can she be so well informed to help people improve their lives. Read more

Published 23 days ago by Ryan P. Lenz

1.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY.
She doesn't know what she is talking about. She needs to do more research and learn new things.

Published 25 days ago by Alex

1.0 out of 5 stars More harm than good
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. What road is lawrence taking when her intentions are only to make a buck off the weak-minded and gullible? Read more

Published 1 month ago by Franc C. Gabusi

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