High Octane Women: How Superachievers Can Avoid Burnout

by Sherrie Bourg Carter

This title is filled with expert advice on how to avoid burnout and maintain a healthy work/life balance. Today, women all over the world hold many of the highest positions in government and business. Unfortunately, there is another, perilous side to this success story. Many bright, ambitious, and highly driven women ultimately burn out before their male counterparts. What causes them to give up, melt-down, or just walk away when they seem to have it all? And more importantly, what can be done to prevent it? In this authoritative, thoroughly researched volume, psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter draws on more than 15 years experience and expertise to explore the unique challenges high-achieving women face and provides helpful insights and practical ways to avoid burnout, enjoy healthy fulfilling lives, and find the perfect work/life balance.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Womens, Business, Self Help

226 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2010

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful content towards the end, on what to do for "super achievers" that's different from what others should do. Also an interesting epilogue on how burnout is a systems problem and so remedies should not focus on telling the individual victims to relax.
The writing is readable but not great. The high octane metaphor for example is I think just so-so. Towards the end of the book, the "analogy of battered women" is used and I think that is more on the nose.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book that offers a lot of insight into the "why" of being a driven women and "how" this can negatively affect you. Offering suggestions that work with a high achieving woman's natural tendency towards being on the move, the author encourages women to renew themselves in a way that honors their authentic self.

[Tracey Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting discussion on how woman who like a challenge, aim high and don’t stop can be stymied by personality and social environments; ultimately ending up in burnout. Towards the end of the book there are a number of strategies that can be adopted into everyday life to crawl out of the burnout journey.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally a book on burn out that doesn't tell you to retire to peace and quit. This book is for all of us that good full steam ahead.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched and important book. The demands placed on American workers is unprecedented. Women, specifically those who seem to "do everything well", can be at risk for wanting to chuck the whole thing and go live in on a desert island. This book offers road signs for recognizing the differences between stress and burnout, and offers practical strategies for getting back into the drivers seat. Dr. Carter knows her audience and knows that one size doesn't fit all. She also is keenly tuned into the fact that women reading the book are bright and know how to "figure stuff out." She offers a buffet of options with the caveat: use what works for you.

I work in the nonprofit sector, an industry fueled by passion; yet, the turnover rate is high. I enjoyed the last part of the book the best and was challenged by her words in the Epilogue to think outside the box to improve the impact of the stresses in my workplace so that our great employees don't cross the line into the burnout phase.

This book is so well researched and written and while I picked it up for myself, I will be sharing it with a friend who is a clinical psychologist. Thank you for a great book.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very important book to read and I feel that it is a book that all people, both women and men, should read. I feel that the chapters entitled "Road Conditions: Workplace Stressors That Lead to Burnout" and "Roar of the Crowd: Societal Stressors That Lead to Burnout" could have been written better, but in general, the book was well written. I wish that there were more anecdotal stories of high-octane women experiencing burnout.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This books was disappointing. It spent the first 100 pages telling us why we might be stressed or burnedout (as if we didn't know), and the remainder of the book telling us to do all the standard stress relieving stuff that we have all seen better presented elsewhere. The epilogue was the most interesting chapter, as it discussed what companies can do to help prevent burnout in their employees.

[Svetlana Kurilova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you a high octane woman? Are you stressed out all the time? How to deal with burnout and how to leave in the men's world? This book gives a great overview of challenges for women in different areas of the life as well as gives possible solutions to overcome them.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how much the ideas in this book applied to me because I don't think of myself as the Type A personality.

Worth the read if you are concerned about sagging drive and motivation, whatever your personality type is.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the research interesting, but the advice trite and far too simplistic. Too many generalizations and not enough real strategies, especially for women who work in progressive workplaces with cultures that still produce burnout.

[Noha · Rating 2 out of 5]

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