The Cult of Perfection and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Like New See details
$3.96 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever
 
 
Start reading The Cult of Perfection on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever [Hardcover]

Cooper Lawrence (Author)
1.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (183 customer reviews)

Price: $24.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 2 left in stock--order soon.
Want it delivered Friday, May 25? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $9.99  
Hardcover, Bargain Price $9.72  
Hardcover, January 1, 2008 $24.95  

Book Description

January 1, 2008
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.


Special Offers and Product Promotions



Editorial Reviews

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.

From the Back Cover

Quiz: Are You an Overachiever?
 
• Is your life ruled by a “to do” list of goals?
• When you get an idea, do you act upon it immediately, not resting until you have
   achieved a result?
• Do you always complete your work before the deadline?
• Do you often feel overwhelmed?
• Are you restless even on vacation?

If you answered “yes” to the above questions, chances are you are an
overachiever. But don’t worry—it’s not a dirty word. Join psychology expert and media personality (and self-professed overachiever) Cooper Lawrence as she details the upside of this way of life (whatever you set your mind to, you achieve) and the downside (the stress, anxiety, and self-doubt you sometimes experience).  Most important, she provides the tools you need to make peace with your inner overachiever. Packed with practical exercises and real-life stories of overachieving women past and present, The Cult of Perfection helps you harness your incredible energy, focus, and determination, to bring joy and success to your life.

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 (183 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,930,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3,580 of 3,614 people found the following review helpful
Don't Waste Your Money January 23, 2008
Format:Hardcover
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
714 of 717 people found the following review helpful
Just Plain Bad January 24, 2008
Format:Hardcover
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.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
537 of 538 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
My sister recently bought this book and quickly pawned it off on me.
That's the best thing I can really say about this book.

Unfortunately, it seems like Ms.Lawrence really took some meaning from the title of her book; she not only made peace with her inner overachiever but forgot about it completely.

The best word I could use to summarize her work is this, lazy. It's as if she doesn't do any research on any of the topics that she brings up as factual. Instead she seems to have taken from other pseudo-psychology books on the topic that manage to get some coverage and shape what they said into something that is written in stone.

Any actual professional in the fields relevant to the material would have agree that she has no basis for any of her claims she presents as fact in her book.

On a side note, more as a review on the author than the book itself, she has no ethics what-so-ever. She recently went on TV to criticize something she had no experience with at all simply because it would grab her some air-time hoping to get her name and book out to the public. Besides the fact that her book is definitely undeserving of a purchase, I would never knowingly support anything this woman does knowing that she would use such underhanded and ridiculous methods of gaining some TV-time as blindly bashing random things that happen to be in the spotlight at the time.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Bad and Boring
Do not buy this book! One of the badest and most boring books I have ever read! It was a waste of time!
Published 4 days ago by Markus Siedl
From Tuchanka, With Love
A friend of mine on Tuchanka asked me to write this review on his behalf, as he's busy rebuilding his society. I myself have not read it. Read more
Published 13 days ago by A. Whipp
Don't buy this book.
Don't buy this book or anything by Cooper Lawrence. She isn't a professional and is merely a pseudo-intellectual pretending she knows about things that she hasn't a clue about.
Published 1 month ago by EKal
Awful
Poorly researched and thought out, simplistic and just plain silly, I would consider this idiocy harmless except for the fact that it's so BAD that it's not even funny.
Published 2 months ago by PSquirrel
I was told...
I haven't actually read the book. But because I was told by others it was bad I am condemning the book. Just like the author herself does with other peoples work.
Published 2 months ago by Rahjahk
Inaccuracy and Overly Simplified
I can't say this book is worth reading. In fact, I can say it is not. The author, Cooper, writes rather long-winded and tends to stumble over her words. Read more
Published 2 months ago by CC Burnett
Really!!!!!!!!
What is this book about? Well, I would probably say that has something to do with being an overachiever, but seeing as I have not read the book, I can't really confirm that. Read more
Published 2 months ago by raydr87
It is my opinion that this book is worthless.
My opinion is that this book lacks any substance as to what it claims to speak to and it is also my personal opinion that the author knows nothing about what she is writing about. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Wong
No better now than then
This book clearly displays a lack of true sentiment and research on the author's part. Her contribution to popular culture is only parasitic and she cannot atone for that.
Published 2 months ago by Lurtz of Orthanc
Dont read this book OR it's cover.
I think the reviews here speak for themselves.
While I haven't read this book myself, I have heard very negative things about it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Envy
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

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
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(196)
(169)
(161)
(32)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject