No one understands the pressure we place on ourselves more than Dr. Tiffany Moon. A lifelong overachiever, the former “Real Housewives of Dallas” star has amassed quite the professional and personal resume: medical school graduate at only 23 years old (at the top of her class, no less), award-winning professor of anesthesiology, TV star, social media influencer, entrepreneur, and — most importantly — wife and mother of four.
Yet, despite her success, Tiffany felt unfulfilled. She began to realize that her constant pursuit of excellence caused her to miss out on many of the beautiful moments that came along the way. Her new book, Joy Prescriptions: How I Learned to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Connection, is the result of that revelation.
“I was getting so many questions on social media or when I was giving talks, and it’s hard in a 60-second Instagram reel to really explain your life,” Tiffany explains. I have such a deep love and passion for books, so for me to be writing about my journey through joy and everything that I’ve learned, it’s really like a full circle for me.”
Obsessed with perfection
For Tiffany, the obsession with perfection began early — even before moving to the United States as a child.
“It probably started in elementary school,” she recalls. “Having come from China, not speaking any English, getting dropped into first grade, not having any friends, moving all the time… it didn’t leave a lot of room for connections, making friendships or even being close to my mom and dad. I found solace in reading and studying and thank God I was good at it. It was all I really knew as a child.”
Tiffany believes that, like many of us, her mindset during those formative years resulted from a combination of her own natural personality and the expectations of her parents and those around her.
“As a child, I was praised for being quiet and obedient and getting straight A’s, and I was not praised for being kind or curious or creative or funny,” she explains. “You figure out as a child what gets you praised and fulfills you, and for me, it was all of those things. So then I just tried to fill my cup with more achievements, more accolades, because that’s how I determined my self-worth.”
Dr. Moon’s book shares her personal journey that leads to forging a more joyful path for herself, offering plenty of inspiration for readers to explore their own lives and find ways to achieve the same results. However, she is quick to acknowledge that everyone’s situation is unique, and that they need to empower themselves to take a break from their to-do lists and smell life’s roses.
“As long as you decide there’s more to do, there’s another finish line to cross, another star to get, you’ll never feel like you’ve done enough,” Tiffany says. “The hedonistic treadmill of life keeps going, and you have to decide to slow the speed down or hit the stop button once in a while. If you don’t, you will keep going because it will not stop on its own.”
Discovering joy
As the book’s title suggests, Dr. Moon’s endgame for readers is joy, a concept that she believes is even more powerful than happiness.
“I think we have joy as children,” Moon shares.” You see children dancing, playing, being in the mud, blowing dandelions, chasing butterflies. And what happens to that? As we get older and we go to school and we go through puberty, adolescence, early adulthood, the joy gets sucked right out of us because people are like, ‘Oh, you need to go study. What are you doing? You’re being silly. Oh, you just got your brand-new boots wet.’”
For Tiffany, joy comes in many forms: “Getting a massage, playing with my kids, laughing, cuddling with my dogs. Not everyone’s joy looks the same,” she says.
“My friend’s joy is going for a 50-mile bike ride. That sounds like torture to me. So I think different people have different versions of joy, and it’s upon themselves to find what truly brings them joy.”
With a new lease on life and a message to share through her new book, her popular social media presence, and her second upcoming LeadHer Summit (November 7-9 in Dallas), Tiffany is ready to embrace her own life’s journey from now on.
“I had missed out on so many moments of joy that I could have cultivated during the journey, and I don’t want to live that way anymore,” she declares. “I still have 40 years ahead of me, and I don’t want to keep hustling and missing out on all those moments of connection because I was so singularly focused on the finish line.
