Barking up the wrong tree by Eric Barker

Title- Barking up the wrong tree
Author- Eric Barker
Publishers- Harper One
Length- 266 pages.
Genre- non fiction.

My rating is ★★★★☆

About the book-

Much of the advice we've been told about achievements is logical, earnest and downright wrong.

In "Barking up the wrong tree" Eric Barker reveals extraordinary science behind what actually determines success and- most important- how anyone can achieve it.

My review-

The world, today, is success-centric. This word has a different meaning to each person though. " We have all been raised on the television to believe that one day we will be millionaires, or movie Gods, or rockstars but the fact is we won't. And we are slowly learning the fact and we are very pissed off."

That's exactly the reason today we face a cut throat competition in every sphear of life. The question looming in everybody's mind is "what is the best success mantra.?"

Ever since childhood we have been taught ceratain things, we are told to be disciplined, to do what we are told to if we want to succeed, be a people's person, strive till you finish, work work and work and above all believe in yourself.

Are all these true.?

Do these really work in the real world?

Well the answer lies in the pages of this book.

This book is not your regular self help book, guiding you to the ultimate success but it's a stepping stone which uncovers both the pros and cons of all the teachings instilled in us since childhood.

The author talks about whether to play it safe or whether to take risks, whether be an introvert, extrovert or ambivert, how picking the right workplace is so important , why being absolutely selfless is not saintly but silly, to what point should you keep trying and where you should give up, where is it beneficial to give up, apart from knowing yourself , what else matters for success?

Is it boot licking in the workplace, or making friends, or having a mentor, why and how a mentor guides you.

Yes, you are going to get all the answers in this book. Not only has the author explained the facts from both the ends but has done so by giving anecdotes, statistics, researches and interviews.

He has clearly outlined where believing in yourself works and over confidence can lead to and how there should be a work-life balance so as to get success with happiness.

It's so important to remember that you can't always be the best, you must always remember " good enough is almost always good enough".

By the end of the book, you will find yourself in a place where you will know both the sides of the teachings and you will be able to find your own road to success. You will realize that success is not a result of a single quality, it's about alignment between who you are and where you choose to be.

I would recommend this book to all those people out there who feel they are not getting the fruits of their efforts or who are confused as to what should be their priority or how should they go about on the journey of life.

Writing style.

The author has taken up every question in a separate chapter. The writing is lucid, the anecdotes identifiable, a multiload of statistics and clear cut connection between the subsequent chapters.

Yes, the reading is a bit slow because you have to analyze every point that he speaks of, which is quite a lot in fact. A gem if you can get to the end.

About the author-

Eric Barker is the creator of the blog Barking up the wrong tree which presents science based answers and expert insight on how to be awesome at life. His works has been mentioned in the New York times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine and Business Insider.

He is a former Hollywood screenwriter, and is also a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, holds an MBA from Boston college and Master of Fine arts from UCLA.