Health Highlight: We’re All Suffering from ‘Successaholism’ and It Needs to Stop

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Working late

In her new book, “The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success,” Emma Seppala explains why happiness often paves the way for professional success. Unfortunately, she says, many workers have it backward, thinking that they need to be successful before they can ever be happy.

Call it workaholism or “successaholism” — Seppala, the science director for Stanford University’s Center for Altruism and Compassion Research and Education, says it’s a problematic cycle because it eventually leads to burnout and worse job performance.

Yet these behaviors are unlikely to disappear anytime soon because they’re encouraged by our friends, colleagues, and employers.

Source: Business Insider

Health Highlights is a recurring series of curated health and medical news from around the web.

About the Author

Walter Jessen, Ph.D. is a Data Scientist, Digital Biologist, and Knowledge Engineer. His primary focus is to build and support expert systems, including AI (artificial intelligence) and user-generated platforms, and to identify and develop methods to capture, organize, integrate, and make accessible company knowledge. His research interests include disease biology modeling and biomarker identification. He is also a Principal at Highlight Health Media, which publishes Highlight HEALTH, and lead writer at Highlight HEALTH.