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  • Barking up the Wrong Tree

  • The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong
  • By: Eric Barker
  • Narrated by: Roger Wayne
  • Length: 9 hrs
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (240 ratings)

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Barking up the Wrong Tree

By: Eric Barker
Narrated by: Roger Wayne
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Publisher's Summary

Much of the advice we've been told about achievement is logical, earnest...and downright wrong. In Barking up the Wrong Tree, Eric Barker reveals the extraordinary science behind what actually determines success and, most importantly, how anyone can achieve it. You'll learn:

  • Why valedictorians rarely become millionaires and how your biggest weakness might actually be your greatest strength
  • Whether nice guys finish last and why the best lessons about cooperation come from gang members, pirates, and serial killers
  • Why trying to increase confidence fails and how Buddhist philosophy holds a superior solution
  • The secret ingredient to "grit" that Navy SEALs and disaster survivors leverage to keep going
  • How to find work-life balance using the strategy of Genghis Khan, the errors of Albert Einstein, and a little lesson from Spider-Man

By looking at what separates the extremely successful from the rest of us, we learn what we can do to be more like them - and find out, in some cases, why it's good that we aren't. Barking up the Wrong Tree draws on startling statistics and surprising anecdotes to help you understand what works and what doesn't, so you can stop guessing at success and start living the life you want.

©2017 Eric Barker (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Barking up the Wrong Tree

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Fantastic book

Always enjoy a book that makes me see or think the world in a different way.
This is this kind of book.
In a similar style that The Sutle Art of Not Giving a F***, the book shows us to focus what's really important in our lives in a very creative way of telling there are always two sides of a story.
Very entertaining and insightful that only gets better with each chapter.

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One of the better success and happiness book I have read.

This book was interesting from the start to end. I wanted to start it again purely to give myself a second chance to take in all of the great information. Well researched stories with great flow.

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Awesome. Simple practical advice

Fantastic book. Goes through many different elements of success as a whole, job career and relationships. Provides practical advice that you can use with examples. Wish it was longer because it was well written too

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1 person found this helpful

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  • MK
  • 26-11-2017

what a book

was a pleasure listening to this book. it seemed like every time i listened to a new concept, it organically came up in discussion amongst my peers. obviously very relevant content

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

You're not Batman

Or rather in my case, I'm not some one like Casey Nicetat- Sleep 4 hrs a day, make 20 mil. and be super famous. This book game me a reality check, but also motivated me by teaching me personal forgiveness, telling me about the success that grit and smart work(rather than hard work) brings about, why intelligence and a young age doesn't determine success and happiness later on in life and balance between extrovertnes and introvertnes. I would definitely recommend this book to someone like myself- who has poisoned their brain with unrealistic expectations and stupid motivational quotes and videos. But who also has big dreams.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • Jay
  • 18-06-2020

Awesome book

One of the best books I’ve ever listened to possibly the best one and I’ve listened to hundreds.

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Enjoyable and interesting

This was an enjoyable book with many great and interesting stories. It didn't however feel to have a concrete message that makes you come away from the book feeling you've really learnt something that could be put into practice. I still found the material very useful as a complement to other more concrete books such as 'Deep Work'.

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  • Kel
  • 01-04-2019

Entertaining and informative

this is one of the better books I've read. it was interesting and entertaining from start to finish. I highly recommend it.

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Loved it.

A Well articulated guide to sorting ones mind out. Good follow on read to the book stealing fire.

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Interesting book

Concepts like givers, matcher and takers clears a lot of things thats you find near you.

Appreciate Author efforts & research.

worth listening.

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