Book SummaryBarking Up the Wrong Tree, by Eric Barker

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Barking Up the Wrong Tree

What is the key to success? It's hard to know—especially when so much success advice is contradictory: Should you be kind, or is being nice for losers? Should you spend every waking hour at work or focus on work-life balance? In Barking Up the Wrong Tree, peak performance expert Eric Barker examines the research on every option—and shares what he believes are the secrets to...

Barking Up the Wrong Tree Summary Know Yourself—and Act Accordingly

Why are there so many different rules regarding success? Barker suggests this is because often, the key is not whether the path is right but whether it’s right for you. Therefore, an essential key to success is to know yourself and act accordingly.

Barker explains that most of the time, things aren't inherently good or bad: They just work differently for different people. Such is the case with rules for success: Some people can succeed by following a prescribed path, while others succeed by doing the exact opposite. Specifically, people can be divided into two types: the rule-followers who succeed in predictable ways—like by steadily climbing the career ladder—and the individualists, who follow unorthodox paths and have qualities that might be problematic but work in the right context. For example, Winston Churchill’s paranoia was dangerous in peacetime but led him to rightly view Adolf Hitler as a threat—and thus successfully lead Britain through World War II.

How Accepting Your Tendencies—No Matter What They Are—Can Help

Other experts point out that [you may be neither a rule-follower nor an individualist but a...

Barking Up the Wrong Tree Summary Be Kind, But Be Smart

Another area in which conventional advice regarding success contradicts itself is its recommendations surrounding kindness. Some people argue that being nice is for chumps, while others argue that being nice will get you far. So who’s right? According to Barker, they all are. You can be both kind and successful—but you have to be smart about it.

Be Kind

Why does being kind pay off? Barker explains that when you’re kind to someone without expecting anything in return, people grow to like you—and people who like you want to help you. Some people who like you will offer you small courtesies, like proofreading an important email you need to send. Others will watch over you and help if someone tries to take advantage of you. Therefore, when you meet someone, get them to like you by doing something small for them before they do anything for you. For example, you might treat them to coffee.

(Shortform note: Barker’s advice is contradictory. He argues that being kind means you don’t expect others to do things for you. However, doing someone a favor in order to get them to like you does involve an expectation: You expect that they’ll “like you” because you did...

Barking Up the Wrong Tree Summary Nurture Your Network

You’ve now learned that it’s smart to be nice, but what if socializing doesn’t come naturally to you? Is success really about who—not what—you know? Not necessarily, according to Barker—but your relationships are essential, so you must nurture your network.

Barker explains that socializing doesn’t guarantee success because people comfortable with different levels of socialization are good at different things. For example, extroverts (people who are energized by socializing with others) tend to make more money, introverts (who are energized by being alone) are more likely to become experts in their fields, and ambiverts (who fall somewhere between extroverts and introverts) tend to make great salespeople. So as long as you know where you fall on the introversion-to-extroversion scale and choose positions that work with it, you can succeed in your chosen field.

How to Implement Barker’s Suggestions at Any Stage of Your Career

It’s easy to pick a position suited to where you fall on the introversion-to-extroversion scale if you know what it is and you’re at the beginning of your career. But what if you’re not sure or you’re already committed to a career...

Barking Up the Wrong Tree Summary Become Self-Compassionate

You’ve learned why being kind to others can help you succeed, but how should you act towards yourself? Conventional wisdom dictates that being confident is key to success—and that if you aren’t confident, you should act as if you were. However, Barker argues that confidence is overrated. In this section, we’ll discuss why projecting confidence isn’t always the best idea—and what you should do instead.

Barker admits that confidence has many benefits: Notably, confident people often become successful because they’re willing to take advantage of potentially risky but ultimately rewarding opportunities. (Shortform note: Barker argues that confidence leads people to take risks, but one expert suggests that the reverse is also true: Taking risks increases your self-confidence by proving to you that even if you fail, you can still get through that failure.)

However, Barker contends that we focus too much on the benefits of confidence and not enough on its negative consequences: the reality that just because we’re confident (or pretend to be confident) in our ability to do something doesn’t...

Barking Up the Wrong Tree Summary Work Hard at the Right Things

Now that you’ve learned about how your attitudes towards others and yourself affect your success, let’s talk about the work itself—and more specifically, about the grit it requires. Conventional advice around grit—our ability to persevere through setbacks and continue working towards long-term goals over years or even decades—often contradicts itself. As Barker notes, we tend to believe that grit is essential to success; however, we also warn each other about clinging to our dreams for too long—like the man who’s convinced he can become a pro basketballer long after his joints have started to wear away. So which is it?

(Shortform note: Experts differ on what grit actually is. Some psychologists contend that grit is the same as conscientiousness, the tendency to be responsible, organized, persistent, goal-oriented, and self-controlled. However, psychologist Angela Duckworth, who popularized the term “grit,” argues that it differs from conscientiousness because it also incorporates passion—[the adherence to high-level, long-term...

Barking Up the Wrong Tree Summary Work Smart _and _Hard

You've learned that it's essential to work hard—to be persistent and stick to your goals so you can achieve them. But most modern experts also tout work-life balance...so which is it? Barker agrees that working hard is essential, but he also approves of balance. In other words, you should work hard—but work smart.

Barker explains that if you want to succeed, you have to spend several hours on your goals—ideally, at least 10,000 hours to become an expert. In fact, research suggests that as long as you're relatively smart, greatness is determined by how long you work intensely at something.

Why 10,000 Hours Might Not Be Enough

Working 10,000 hours doesn’t guarantee that you’ll become an expert—you have to spend those hours on “deliberate practice,” a term Barker never explicitly defines. In Peak, psychologist Anders Ericsson explains that deliberate practice has five main features: It’s competitive, requires maximal effort, involves repeating time-tested skills, is performed under the tutelage of coaches, and can be measured objectively.

But, as Malcolm...

Shortform Exercise: Thank the People That Matter

Now that you’ve learned how essential the people you know are to your life, plan how to thank someone who matters.

Consider your current life circumstances, and write down three things you’re happy about.