Achievement Addiction


Re:CONSIDERING invites you to look at what’s familiar from an unfamiliar angle. To consider how we consider things – and how to do it better.


Are you an achievement addict? It’s hard not to be one given our collective obsession with success.


Students fear that the ATAR will sum up not just their schooling career, but also their individual worth. Australians aren’t just mad for sporting victory – skyrocketing house prices show we’re equally hooked on owning property. Then there are the furious work habits of Silicon Valley CEOs, violin prodigies, and tiger mums.


Why do we constantly strive for our significance – and could you quit the habit if you tried?


I would say that workaholism … is one of the very socially acceptable addictions that we have out there. We’re in a system that’s always about - what’s our GDP? How can we drive economic prosperity? We, as a society, have a lot to gain from people being addicted to their work; a system where people see a lot of self-worth in their work. But, if you are talking to a friend … who feels really upset that they’ve lost their job or gotten a bad mark, the thing you want to say that is absolutely true is that you are loved and accepted.

Achievement Addiction exposes the restlessness of the modern soul in its endless and elusive quest for success. Has our hunger to achieve made us happy and fulfilled? And what is it doing to our children? Justine Toh has managed to write a book that is as entertaining as it is confronting. It's definitely worth making time in your busy schedule to read it!

— Michael Jensen

Author of “My God, My God: Is it possible to believe anymore?”


Love it! A devastatingly accurate analysis of Australian society and individuals that hit me personally. Justine's social location also provides an empathetic, well-informed and insightful approach in tackling the meritocratic myth for ALL of us. As she frames so cleverly, 'everyone is kind of Asian now’.

— Grace Lung

Asians Between Cultures

Publication date: September 2021

Title: Achievement Addiction

Edition: 1st

Format: Paperback and Ebook

RRP: PB $7.99 EB $5.99

ISBN: PB 9780647531327, EB 9780647531334

Page count: 76

Specifications: 180 x 110 mm

Categories: Religion / Christian Living / Personal Growth/ Psychology: Addiction

Series: Re:CONSIDERING (Book 4)

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Achievement Addiction

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