Customer Reviews

The Man Who Mistook His Job for a Life: A Chronic Overachiever Finds the Way Home

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Jonathon Lazear equates compulsive work with alcoholism - a dependency that amounts to a disease. Carrying on that analogy, Lazear presents a list of workaholism's symptoms, and a 10-step program to overcome the obsession with work. Although passages condemning overachievers and perfectionists will sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to many business men and women, we from getAbstract recommend this book to all executives, who would do well to heed this much of Lazear's advice: Make sure that you are not letting your job crowd out the important things in life.

This book is a beautifully written glimpse into the inner life of a workaholic, particulary from a male point of view. I was very impressed with what the author accomplished -- evolving from a man whose self-worth was defined primarily by what he did for a living to a person who broadedned his world and identity to include a full human experience. He provides many helpful healing tips for workaholics. If you have the feeling that your work is your life, read this book!

Lazear focuses on his own experiences while discussing specifically how American males often confuse their personal lives with their professional ones. He attempts to teach his readers to allow for time with their families, friends, and lives outside of the workplace. This book has no comedic tone and yet based on the title and approach one would expect it..

This book can be break down to 2 parts. The first half of the book is about his life story, and the second half is how he manage the problems that he had. The book was intended for very specific kind of audience-- overachievers that can't seem to differentiate work and personal life. In another words, Jonathon Lazear is directing this more towards to audiences who have been working for quite a while and are successful at work. He's reaching out to those who can affect directly on how much they make. After all, it's rare for people to make a seven-figure income. So, he's not talking about salaried jobs with overtime. This became a problem as half of his book is designed to relate to those who have been in the same similiar situation as him. It makes someone who doesn't share that experience to feel more and more distanced from his ideas as he keep talking about his past.

While his recollection maybe valuable to those who can relate; however, being someone who was once a literary agent, by how Lazear give his personal account he establishes a sense of helplessness, and Jon fails to change the tone when he gets to the second part of his book. Thus, even when Jonathon offers the solutions, he still not coming up with a positive outlook, and that puzzles me on how he expect the readers to truly take on a different perspective.

The book has a lot of useful information that can serve as a warning to those who maybe on their way to a similar situation, and it should be a even better read for those who can truly relate. However, The Man Who Mistook His Job for a Life could have been more positive to inspire the readers.

you know who you are, and you know why you are considering buying this book.
just do it, see that you're not alone, get some guts, and change your life.
i was shocked with how much i had in common with the author. i ended up quitting my job and, after a few years, finding something much more satisfactory.
this book goes great with pretty much any book by osho or ajahn chah.