Toxic Striving Why Hustle and Wellness Culture Are Leaving Us Anxious, Stressed, and Burned Out―and How to Break Free

Reconnect with what matters, reclaim your mental health, and live by yourownrules.
Do you strive to have the perfect body, the perfect relationship, the perfect diet and wardrobe, the perfect job, and the perfect life? Have you worked tirelessly at your job-even during illness-so that you can further your career? Do you feel like no matter what, you'll never be as smart, as attractive, or as rich as you'd like? If so, you are far from alone. External influences like social media, wellness culture, and hustle culture pressure us to strive toward unrealistic goals that leave us feeling anxious, burned out, and like we're never enough. Isn't it time we say,enough?
In this groundbreaking book, clinical psychologist Paula Freedman offers a clear path to help you move beyondtoxic striving-the relentless pursuit of perfection, societal ideals, and external validation at the expense of your physical, mental, and emotional health-and instead turninwardfor guidance. Using a combination of evidence-based tools and strategies grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and intuitive eating, you'll gain the insight needed to reconnect with your true values, reclaim your physical and mental health, develop unwavering self-compassion and confidence, and live by yourownrules.
You'll also find profound and practical guidance to:
Identifyhowandwhenyou stopped trusting your own mind, body, and emotions-and started living according to society's standardsSet goals that align withyourpersonal values-instead of society's expectationsDevelop skills to defuse from restrictive and self-punishing thoughts, so you can be kinder to yourselfLearn how to be an observer of your emotions-rather than letting them control youStop beating yourself up for gaining weight, and view yourself and your body as more than just the perfect selfieSet effective boundaries with anyone who makes you feel ashamed of yourself for how you look, how much you get done in your day, or anything else!
If you're exhausted from the daily grind and fed up with feeling like you aren't enough-it's time to look within yourself. From now on, you are the expert onyou.