The Superstar Paradox How Overachievers Miss the Mark in Life and at Work

摘要

Extraordinary success can make you rich and powerful.It can also leave you incurious,blinkered,invulnerable,deeply unhappy and ironically—mediocre.In my work,as an executive coach crisis-counselor,I have found that the ruthless pursuit of over-achievement towards success,power,and money is playing a major role in the erosion of people’s happiness.That premise is supported by clear evidence of unhappiness and dissatisfaction seen across the board in western culture,limiting the phenomenon not only to those who are extremely successful,but to anyone buying into“hustle culture1”and developing extreme anxiety by scrolling through the lives of others on Instagram.In a society that still values over-achievement in the form of hard work above all2,this paper aims at a central tenet of western societies that over-achieving paves the road to success and riches,which lead to happiness.This talk will illustrate through proprietary and up to date global research show the opposite that over-achieving tendencies in any department of life can limit happiness profoundly.