• Pursuit of Perfect

  • How to Stop Chasing and Start Living a Richer, Happier Life
  • By: Tal Ben-Shahar
  • Narrated by: Eric Conger
  • Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (478 ratings)

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Pursuit of Perfect  By  cover art

Pursuit of Perfect

By: Tal Ben-Shahar
Narrated by: Eric Conger
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Publisher's summary

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.

What listeners say about Pursuit of Perfect

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

listen at 1.3x

monotone and slow,. listen at 1.3x or higher to improve. good basic science, and worry a listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Astonishing

I bought more copies to gift friends and family with material that can help them enjoy their lift fully 🙏🏻

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Reaffirming, enlightening, hope filled and wonderful peace of work!

This should be required reading for all high school students prior to graduation into society! So many wonderful lessons explained, and re-learned!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Boring reader, recycled info

This information is out there in many forms already. But if you've never heard/read it before, then this is a good (but long) representation. Also, the reader is so bland. I literally listened to this a few times before bed, because he lulled me to sleep.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

One criticism is too much time spent on abstract comparisons, essentially expressing a point previously made.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Much better then I expected

This audio book is packed with really interesting information.
It is a great follow on from his other book Happier

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful, with many personal stories

I really enjoyed the way he approached this book. His points came across in my mind exactly as he meant them to, without effort.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • A
  • 12-06-22

Best self-help book I've read

Best self help book I've read. Writes about perfectionism in a much broader sense than how people commonly understand the term. I'm not the type of person who agonizes over every sentence in a paper to make it perfect (the common understanding of perfectionism I think) but I found this book extremely relevant.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • A
  • 01-02-13

Dry and laborious

Really struggled to stay with this book - the narration didn't help make the material any more engaging either.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

A perfect waste of time

This is a stupid, superficial, self-help book. A total waste of time. I am surprised that the author is so popular. Don't bother to figure that one out.

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3 people found this helpful