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 important--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 Buddhistz 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