Pursuit of Perfect Audiobook By Tal Ben-Shahar cover art

Pursuit of Perfect

How to Stop Chasing and Start Living a Richer, Happier Life

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Pursuit of Perfect

By: Tal Ben-Shahar
Narrated by: Eric Conger
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We're all laboring under our own and society's expectations to be perfect in every way: to look younger, to make more money, to be happy all the time. But according to Tal Ben-Shahar, the New York Times best-selling author of Happier, the pursuit of perfect may actually be the number-one internal obstacle to finding happiness.

Applying cutting-edge research in the field of positive psychology - the scientific principles taught in his wildly popular course at Harvard University - Ben-Shahar takes us off the impossible pursuit of perfection and directs us to the way to happiness, richness, and true fulfillment. He shows us the freedom derived from not trying to do it all right all the time and the real lessons that failure and painful emotions can teach us. He provides exercises for self reflection, meditations, and "Time-Ins" to help you rediscover what you really want out of life.

©2009 Tal Ben-Shahar (P)2009 HighBridge Company. Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Sociology Happiness Health Inspiring Mental Health Thought-Provoking Physical Exercise
Insightful Content • Practical Advice • Very Good Performance • Engaging Presentation • Scientific Approach

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This is a very helpful self help guide for the perfectionist that exists in each of us. It was thorough and detailed but also entertaining. I highly recommend reading it.

Amazing book!

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LOVE this book. Will be recommending to others from here on. Very helpful tools for professional development, relationships and parenting.

Everyone can benefit from this book

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I am going to listen to this book again :)
I just lived it ... Mind opening ;)
If you are stuck in your life this book will free you.

Loved this one

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I thought this book was excellent and it really has helped me to understand myself so much and think about how I communicate with people.

Great read!

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I read this book in an effort to branch out and read something different than my usual choices of fiction, philosophy and psychology textbooks. I was expecting the book to be sort of "self-helpy" and honestly just hoped I would learn at least one helpful nugget of information. However, it turned out to be right up my alley and delivered countless nuggets of illumination. Tal Ben-Shahar delivers an impressive survey of perfectionism in a way that is scientific and engaging and as a result the book connects on a deeply personal level mentally and emotionally. He systematically outlines both the root causes and the wide range of effects of the perfectionist mindset. He covers work ethic, self regard and ways of viewing personal success and failure- but he also examines perfectionism's wider implications. Ben-Shahar traces perfectionism back to Plato, contrasts him with Aristotle, and proceeds to outline perfectionism's effects in the realms of education, politics and moral philosophy. He also covers perfectionism with regard to parenting and aging. While drawing on expert research, historical lessons, and personal stories, the author breaks downs the dichotomy between the driven overachiever and the lazy slacker. I could not recommend this book more! This is the most life-changing thing I have read in 3 years. The reader wasn't great, but the book was so good, it didn't really matter.

Highest recommendations possible!

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Good book with some really good insights. Especially helpful was the section on marriage and relationships. I found myself rethinking conflict in an even more positive light. That section read by the mass would transform our current marriage, family and friendships in the most positive ways.

Great section on relationships

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Forever changed my life a true gem. I know this will be a book I will revisit forever.

True gem

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I bought two of these in hardback after having listened to it. A voice of reason and a balancing source. The pursuit of perfect will not bring happiness and here is why. Highly reckommended!

Reference book.

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This book was okay. I did appreciate all the personal anecdotes Ben-Shahar included, but would have preferred more prescriptive or actionable recommendations. He spends a lot of time expounding on the theory behind perfectionism and how it plays out in real life, but doesn't cite much evidence (at least in audiobook format) to suggest whether this is a) real findings or b) his interpretation. The book made me feel bad about myself for being a perfectionist, but was either too vague or possibly too easy to tune out for me to walk away with any clear notion of what I should do to STOP being a perfectionist. "Yes, I should be an optimalist! ....how again?" It may be simply that this one works better on paper. I might listen to it again someday, but probably not any time soon.

Gave up on perfectionism before writing the book

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this book should be everywhere, good for parents, teachers educators coaches and any human been.

amazing book

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