Overview
Main description
A brilliant new guide to living a happier
life (even if it’s not so perfect)
Tal Ben-Shahar knows about the burden of perfection. As professor of the most popular course in Harvard’s history, he has seen the best and the brightest buckle under the pressures of perfectionism. In his provocative new book, he argues that people are unhappy because they’re caught in “The Myth of Perfection,” a dangerous trend fueling society’s obsession with youth, beauty, money, success, and “having it all.” Ben-Shahar believes you need to be more realistic in your goals, and more accepting of yourself, to live a richer, fuller, happier life. The Pursuit of Perfect shows you how.
Filled with the same “Time-Ins,” meditations, and exercises that made his bestselling book Happier such an uplifting,
interactive experience, this prescriptive guide uses practical strategies and positive psychology to
help you get off the perfection treadmill, get in touch with your emotions, and happily get on
with your life.
Praise for Ben-Shahar and Happier
[Tal Ben-Shahar has] a rare brand of good sense that is embedded in scientific knowledge about how to increase happiness.”
--Martin E. P. Seligman, author
of Authentic Happiness
“Ben-Shahar teaches that happiness isn’t as
elusive as people think.”
--Publishers Weekly
“One of the most popular teachers in Harvard’s
recent history.”
--Ellen J. Langer, author of Mindfulness and
On Becoming an Artist
Table of contents
Introduction: The Perfect Trap
Chapter 1: Benevolent Jealousy
Chapter 2: The Upside of Anxiety
Chapter 3: Ordinary Expectations
Chapter 4: Don’t Just Get Over It
Chapter 5: Understanding the Unknowable
Chapter 6: Succeeding at Failing
Chapter 7: Permission to Feel
Chapter 8: The Law of Identity
Chapter 9: The Platinum Rule
Conclusion
Author comments
Tal Ben-
Shahar,
Ph.D., has received
worldwide
attention for
his now-famous Harvard course in
“Positive Psychology,” the most
popular class in the university’s history.
He consults and lectures on
subjects including happiness, self-esteem,
mindfulness, and leadership
to executives in multi-national corporations,
the general public, and
at-risk populations. He obtained his
Ph.D. in organizational behavior and
B.A. in philosophy and psychology
from Harvard University.
