The life of young people around the world has become more complicated in the past two decades. The pressure is on; expectations are increasing and the race for children to outperform and succeed in life starts earlier than ever before. Unfortunately, the teaching of life skills required to succeed in this new competitive landscape has in general not kept up with these developments. The outcome is inevitable. High expectations, both of the individuals and those around them, collide with a lack of relevant preparation and result in unhappiness. It is the universities and corporations across the world that later face the consequences of these problems. Too often, students and recent graduates are either relaxed and 'happy', or successful, but rarely both. Numerous cases of burn-outs on the one hand and drop-outs on the other illustrate the problem. It is unfortunate, albeit perfectly understandable, that only a small proportion of students and graduates succeed in finding the elusive 'work-life' balance, and outperform in a way that leads to happiness. Why? Nobody has ever taught the majority of them how to do it. At last, finally here comes a book for a generation that is often almost as confused as it is ambitious. Racing Towards Excellence fills the gap; it explains how and when outperformance happens, how it leads to happiness and how to practically achieve both. Its principles are surprisingly universal and applicable to any field or activity, e.g. academia, business, entrepreneurship, finance, sports, arts etc. Amongst the thousands of self-help books, this book stands out with its refreshing attitude, well executed combination of theory and practice, and the unique background of the authors. Covering areas ranging from inspiration, vision, love and responsibility to habits, study skills, health and fitness, communication, networking, mentoring and productive leisure, Racing Towards Excellence is a must-read for all ambitious students and recent graduates.