Toxic Success: How to Stop Striving and Start Thriving (Hardcover)

by Paul Pearsall (Author) "I met the most successful person in the world..." (more)
Key Phrases: toxic success, toxically successful people, psychological absenteeism, New York, United States, Wall Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Clinical psychologist Paul Pearsall (The Heart's Code) believes success and how people define and pursue it can destroy personal health, ruin marriages and create feelings of loneliness and isolation. He criticizes the instinct for executives and soccer moms alike to "multitask," and in Toxic Success: How to Stop Striving and Start Thriving, he teaches readers to find happiness in the "now." Pearsall's "Sweet Success" approach emphasizes shared, collective values (rather than a "me-first" attitude) and reminds people that money does not equal happiness. Workaholics and those who have difficulty knowing when to say when will find much useful advice in this intelligent book.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Why do so many highly successful men and women feel lonely, cutoff, and unfulfilled by their success? Why does our drive for "winning" so often threaten our health, our relationships, and our families, leaving us with "an eerie vacancy of spirit?" Best-selling author and clinical psychologist Dr. Paul Pearsall discovered this pattern of "Toxic Success Syndrome" or TSS in his 10-year study of a hundred "winners," together with their families and associates. He confirmed that most TSS victims are distant, detached, and distracted and suffer from a form of ADD—attention deficit disorder. People who experience "Sweet Success"—an almost constant state of delight in their love, work and play—are able to direct their attention and stay in the "now," being the center of swirling activity without getting fragmented. It’s being pulled through life, not pushed; going with the flow instead of fighting the current; being responsive rather than driven. Pearsall’s detoxification program has helped many TSS patients to "sweeten it up" by changing their mindset and taking back their attention, focusing on what they need not what they want. Toxic Success is this celebrated author’s most important book to date.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Inner Ocean Publishing; First Edition edition (May 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930722095
• ISBN-13: 978-1930722095
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #960,129 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed reaction, June 3, 2005

By	R. Charleson (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toxic Success: How to Stop Striving and Start Thriving (Paperback)

This book is about living in the moment and is based on Hawaiian philosophy. It gives many comments from cancer victims, and what they say about what they would do over if given the chance, versus those with Toxic Success Syndrome (TSS) who feel increasingly dissatisfied with life. Those comparisons were very informative, as were the many useful hints and suggestions. The approach to a more value-based, collective philosophy was very appealing.

I appreciated that the book has lots of references. But, I wondered why the author doesn't seem cite his own publications based on his "10-year study of TSS".

Ultimately, at 309 pages, I found the book too long and repetitive. The author says that this is a product of his Hawaiian philosophy and that anyone bothered by it is suffering from "denial of Toxic Success Syndrome" (pg. 222). For me, this was like being taken to a huge feast and then being told I had to eat the whole thing myself in order to avoid starvation.

Further, the author's defensiveness about this seemed contradictory to his Hawaiian philosophy (e.g. pg. 279). Similarly, his criticism of those with TSS as being unable to filter out "every bit of information" (pg. 58) seems to exemplify his own excessive length. He couldn't avoid telling us everything he knows.

Overall, I couldn't decide whether these lapses were due to poor editing, or whether the author hasn't truly incorporated the ideals he espouses. This left me feeling uncomfortable in ways that others, like Ram Dass, Deepak Chopra, and Thomas Moore do not.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living life with your eyes open again., December 17, 2003

By	Brian (Austin, Tx United States) - See all my reviews

I was lucky enough to be awarded a trip to Hawaii through my company this year. On the second day of the trip Paul Pearsall (the author) spoke to our group and he forever opened my eyes to the really important things in life. The rest of the trip was better than I ever thought it could have been. I bought his book through my phone (Amazon), and it was waiting for me when I arrived back home.

This is definitely a very life-affirming and eye opening book. Dr. Pearsall will show you many things which have the effect of changing the way you view the world and live in it. His book is firmly grounded in the philosophy and beliefs of the Hawaiian culture. This is not a self-help, "you can do it" "rah-rah-rah" book. This is a real book, of real substance.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to live a longer, fuller, and more meaningful life. Dr. Pearsall will show you how to be content, calm down, and connect always.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Loving and Helpful Book, December 25, 2002

By	David Enzel (Chevy Chase, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book because I had read in a magazine that Dr. Pearsall talks about the dangers of "multi-tasking" -- a very common trait. The book certainly speaks persuasively against multi-tasking and in favor of living in the moment. The book is in line with other books that suggest that it is time to "wake up and smell the roses." Dr. Pearsall suggests that instead of occupying our minds by thinking about moving mountains we could instead -- when we come upon a mountain -- notice what a magnificient mounntain it is and sit down and enjoy it with someone we love. Why climb Mount Everest? What is the point? Why not simply accept its majesty? It also talks about the importance of saying no -- even to close friends to keep from overdoing it. This is a very thoughtful book by a very caring man and has the potential to help many "over-achievers" discover what is most important to them.