Dr. Mary E. Anderson on How to Become a Happy High Achiever

We are back today with another fantastic episode, and for my 38th birthday today, I’d like to give you a gift — a conversation about a book that really touched me. We’re chatting today about Dr. Mary E. Anderson’s book The Happy High Achiever: 8 Essentials to Overcome Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Energize Yourself for Success—Without Losing Your Edge, which came out September 24. She writes that we are experiencing an epidemic of high achievers anxiety, which Mary explains in today’s episode. In the book, she writes “The bad news is that right now, you are likely not feeling your best. You may be overwhelmed and tired and frustrated by what feels like an insurmountable mountain of effort, and the truth is, if you continue on this track, you will burn out.” Sometimes achievement becomes a problem and becomes as much of an addictive behavior as maybe some of the more traditionally destructive behaviors. Mary writes of those with high achievers anxiety that they are “plagued with a feeling of inadequacy, no matter how high they soared” and I self-identify as one of these people. But Mary gives us hope, writing that “You can be happy and high achieving,” and that one can move from being an anxious high achiever to, as the book title alludes to, a happy high achiever. Today on the show we chat about Mary’s eight essentials to overcome anxiety, manage stress, and energize yourself for success, which are the roadmap to being a happy high achiever. We also talk about the “Troublesome Trifecta,” and what life as a happy high achiever looks like — and how, with this great book, we can get there. Here to guide us through it all is Dr. Mary E. Anderson, known affectionately as “Dr. A” by her clients, who is a licensed clinical psychologist and sought-after speaker with over a decade of experience helping patients become happier, healthier, and sustainably high achieving. I truly hope that you get as much out of this book and this conversation as I did. Take a listen!

The Happy High Achiever: 8 Essentials to Overcome Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Energize Yourself for Success—Without Losing Your Edge by Dr. Mary E. Anderson