“Striving for achieving a sense of perfection has been a misguided belief in my life,” she wrote on her lifestyle website Goop.

“It has made me at times place value on the wrong things. It has made me not listen to my true self for fear that I would somehow fail in another’s eyes.”

Here two women explain how they learned to stop expecting so much of themselves.

Now I know I don’t want life to be only about work

Natalie Dickinson, 32, from Wokingham, Berks, lives with her boyfriend Steve, 33, an IT consultant, and son Coby, aged nine

I Love baking and three years ago I decided to set up a luxury cake company. I already had a full-time job as a PA to the chairman of a big company so I knew my business would mean working evenings and weekends but that didn’t put me off.

I have always been the type to do my best but I wish I’d known just how busy I’d be. I’d wake at 5.30am and bake the daily orders.

I’d often find myself whipping up 200 wedding cupcakes in an hour. I’d then shower before getting Coby ready for school.

After a rushed breakfast I’d store the cakes, do the school run and head to work, getting to my desk no later than 8.45am. Mornings had to be timed to the minute. As well as my PA duties I also organised the company’s events and looked after the office so my day was crammed full of phone calls, meetings and deadlines. Lists were my best friend and I never left the office unless all my tasks were ticked off. Sometimes I’d work till 9pm.

During an average day I’d pick Coby up from after school club, make dinner, ice cupcakes, box and label them, play with Coby and try to get a head start on any other baking, meaning I usually climbed into bed around 11.30pm.

It goes without saying that working a 60-hour week was tough.

Luckily my partner Steve was very supportive but he did get upset when baking got in the way of us spending quality time together. And of course there were times when I would make mistakes and wouldn’t be able to sleep afterwards because I felt so mortified.

When I first started the business I tried to work every hour but soon learned if I was going to make my double life work I needed balance. Being ambitious is good but not if it dominates everything else.

Now I allow myself to work on the business only three evenings a week, otherwise I am too exhausted to do anything well.

I also try to take off every other weekend and block out the odd week from work in the holidays to spend extra time with Coby. Last week I even took a day off work so I could take Coby on a shopping trip to London.

I can fully understand why high-achieving young women fall into the perfectionist trap, as it is tempting to keep pushing yourself harder and harder. But as much as I love what I do I don’t want my life to become all about work.

While the extra income has allowed me to clear my credit card debt and paid for a holiday to California, spending time with the people you love and having fun are what’s really important.

Visit cuppiesncream.co.uk for more information

I was determined to have a model body at any cost

Jessica Clutterbuck, 24, is a trainee personal trainer who lives in Congleton, Cheshire

As a child I loved eating and when I hit my teens I became a bit chubby. Looking back it was probably nothing more than puppy fat but when my older brother Tom started calling me “Tubs” all the time I resolved to slim down.

Over the summer holidays I ate as little as I could and when I returned to school I was almost 2st lighter. The positive reaction I got from friends made me feel fantastic.

Over the years keeping my weight down was a struggle but with exercise and a strict diet I managed to remain slim. People admired my self-discipline and I was proud of the way I looked although I wouldn’t say I was obsessed with my figure.

That all changed when I broke up with my boyfriend a couple of years ago. Instead of confiding in friends I sought solace in the gym.

Every day I would force myself out of bed at 5.30am and hit the treadmill and I wouldn’t stop until I had burned off at least 1,000 calories.

At the same time I survived on a diet of bananas, watermelon and Diet Coke and within a few months I looked gaunt and I had huge, purple shadows under my eyes. My mum urged me to get some help but it wasn’t until I visited the doctor to get a routine prescription I realised what I was doing to myself.

The doctor discovered my body mass index (BMI) was dangerously low. Worse still he warned me that unless I put on weight I could die.

It was the wake-up call I needed and when I checked into an eating disorders clinic as an outpatient a couple of days later I was immediately diagnosed with anorexia. I weighed 8st 6lb and at 5ft 9ins was painfully underweight.

I knew if I didn’t overcome my issues with food I would seriously damage my health and could even risk my life. So I resolved to get better but those first steps on the road to recovery were frightening.

I remember sitting for hours in front of a tiny bowl of pasta. Getting it all down was so difficult but it felt like the biggest achievement of my life. It is a year since my diagnosis and I have gained 1st 8lb and I now have a healthy BMI. I’d be lying if I said food was no longer an issue but I’m definitely back in control.

I still go to the gym four or five times a week but I give myself regular rest days.

If I am itching to go to the gym but know I’ve done enough exercise I will run a bath or watch a film.

Striving to look good isn’t a bad thing as it takes discipline and drive. But I took things too far and instead of trying to be my best I pushed myself to perfection and I almost paid with my life. Now all I want is to be happy and healthy.