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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Smart strategies for pragmatic, science-based growth and sustainable achievement.
The Science of Intelligent Achievement teaches you the scientific process of finding success through your most valuable assets:
· Selective focus – how selective are you with who and what you let into your life?
· Creative ownership – how dependent are you on others for your happiness and success?
· Pragmatic growth – how consistently and practically are you growing daily?
First, this book will show you how to develop your focus by being very selective with where you spend your mental energy. If you've failed to reach an important goal because you were distracted, misinformed, or overcommitted, then you know the role focus and selectivity play in achievement. Second, you will learn how to stop allowing your happiness and success to be dependent on other people and instead, start taking ownership over your life through creative work. Finally, you will learn the art of changing your life through pragmatic decisions and actions. Self-improvement is not the result of dramatic changes. Instead, science has shown that personal and professional change is initiated and sustained by consistent, practical changes. To grow, you must leverage the power of micro-decisions, personality responsibility, and mini-habits. Your own biology will not let you improve your life in any other way.
What do you currently value? What are working to attain? Have you been taught to value your job title or your relationship with some other person above all else? Have you been convinced that the most valuable things in life are your paycheck, the number of people who say 'hello' to you at the office, and the number of people who say 'I need you' at home? Or, have you become so passive in what you value that you let anyone and anything into your life, as long as whatever you let in allows you to stay disconnected from the cold hard truth that when things really go wrong in your life, the only person who will be able to fix it and the only person will be responsible for it is you. If so…welcome to fake success. Passivity, dependence, and the sacrifice of practical thinking and personal responsibility to fuzzy, grandiose ideals and temporary feelings — these are markers of fake success.
Intelligent Achievement, on the other hand, is not a moving target. It's not empty either. Instead, it's sturdy, full, and immovable. It's not something that's just handed to you. It's not something you're nudged to chase or coerced into wanting. Intelligent Achievement comes from within you. It's a collection of values that are aligned with who you are—values you have to protect and nurture. These values do not increase your dependence on other people and things. Instead, they relieve you of dependence. This kind of achievement is something that you have a part in building from the ground up—you know what's in it—you chose it, someone else didn't choose it for you.
Achieving real success means you must focus, create, and grow daily. The Science of Intelligent Achievement will show you how.
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Seitenzahl: 324
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
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Table of Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
FOREWORD
PREFACE: A FOOL'S GUIDE TO FAKE SUCCESS
The Carefully Crafted Veil is Lifted
From Tragedy to Intelligent Achievement
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS INTELLIGENT ACHIEVEMENT?
Part 1: Selective Focus
1 Why Mental Energy is Your Most Valuable Asset
The Fight for Your Mental Energy
Protecting Your Mental Energy
Surround Yourself With Mental Energizers
Notes
2 How Busyness Leads to Burnout and Manipulation
The Busy Life Versus the Productive Life
Busy People Become Average
Busy People Are Followers, Not Leaders
Why Busy People are Easily Manipulated
Notes
3 The Infection Known as “Other People's Opinions”
You Know What's Best For You
You Are Biologically Wired to Copy Others
Negative Opinions Can Rot Your Brain
Notes
4 How Small‐Minded People Block Big Goals
The Power of Suggestion
Your Brain's Herd Mentality
The Liberating Power of Defiance
Notes
5 Scientific Proof That 50% of Your Friendships are Fake
Why Fake Friendships are Irrational
Signs You Are Stuck in a Fake Friendship
Notes
6 How to Deal With Negative People Without Becoming Negative
The Fog Technique Versus the Investment Technique
Negativity Versus the Void
Case Study #1: Rome Scriva
7 Why You Need to Go on a Relationship Fast
You Have to Say Goodbye First
What You Will Learn During a Relationship Fast
Why Your Entire Life is
Your
Fault
Note
8 Automaticity, Scaling, and the Rise of Mental Loops
Self‐Regulation Versus Automaticity
How Mental Loops Will Improve Your Life
Notes
9 Tracking Emotions and Predicting Feelings
When are Your Energy Levels and Emotions Peaking?
Emotional Predictions Protect Against Emotional Decisions
10 How to Label and Close Your Brain's Open Loops
How the Zeigarnik Effect Affects Your Energy and Emotions
How to Start Closing Off Your Brain's Open Loops
Notes
11 Keep it and Clarify it, or Delete it From Your Life Completely
Actively Delete Your Open Loops, Don't Just Passively “Let Go”
How to Make Your Open Loops Actionable
Case Study #2: Yuri Klyachkin, PhD
Part 2: Creative Ownership
12 Where Millennials and Baby Boomers Meet
How Experience and Equity Combine to Create True Value
Experiences That Create Equity and Wealth
Notes
13 “Entre‐Employee” and Temp‐Employee are the Only Career Options Left
What Is an
Entre
‐Employee?
Why Employers Want to Hire Entrepreneurs
Why The Temp‐Employee Class is Growing Exponentially
Finding Creative Ownership in Entre‐Employment
Notes
14 Content Marketing Is Creative Ownership
What is Content Marketing?
15 Leveraging Walt Disney's Secret System of Creativity
What You Should Write (or, Overcoming Writer's Block)
Video Blogs are Not Just for the Writing Impaired
Notes
16 Finding Your Voice and Letting the Right Audience Pick You
What's the Message of Your Content?
Finding Your Voice in a Noisy World
Notes
17 Why a Good Story Will Make You More Money Than a Great Product
How Storytelling Creates Influence and Ownership
The Hero's Story
Add Credibility and Practicality to Your Story
Choosing the Right Words
Notes
18 The Magic of Turning Your Message into a Magnet
Lead Magnets Create Two‐Way Value
How to Create an EBook Lead Magnet
19 How to Build up Your Virtual Rolodex
Squeeze and Splash Your Followers
What is a CTA Feature Box?
Case Study #3: Tim Bushnell, PhD
Notes
20 Developing and Automating a Message‐Driven Content
How to Leverage an Email Subscription List
Why Email Marketing Will Always be Valuable
Email Marketing and the Last Gatekeepers
Notes
21 Turning Your Message into a Minimum Viable Product
What is a Minimum Viable Product?
Remember the “M” in MVP
Growing an MVP into a Flagship Product
Note
22 What Happens When Your MVP Meets Your Market?
The Prelaunch Phase of a Product Launch
The Launch Phase of a Product Launch
How to Fulfill an Online Product
23 The Addiction of Vanity Analytics and How to Really Use Social Media
Social Media is a Means of Brand Awareness and Brand Protection Only
The Big Five Social Media Platforms and How to Use Them
Note
24 The Laws of Convergence, Replication, and Accelerated Returns
What is the Law of Convergence?
What is the Law of Replication?
Case Study #4: Franco Valentino
Part 3: Pragmatic Growth
25 Turning Pain into Productivity Through Pragmatism
Transform Pain Through Pragmatic Thinking
How to Use Your Negativity Bias to Your Advantage
Notes
26 One Non‐Negotiable is Worth a Thousand To‐Dos
To‐Do Lists are Time‐Wasters
How to Leverage the Power of “No”
Going Beyond “No” to “Never Again” and “Non‐Negotiable”
Notes
27 The Real Theory of Relativity and the Law of Relaxed Productivity
Your World is Relative to Your Mood, Focus and Motivation
The Three Non‐Relative Relativity Exceptions in Life
The Law of Relaxed Productivity and How to Follow it
Notes
28 Avoiding Drama, FOMO, and “Blind Spot Ignorance”
What is FOMO and Who has it?
How Selective “Blind Spot Ignorance” Leads to Disaster
Two Keys to Keeping Your Blind Spots in Full View
Notes
29 Preventing the Deadly Eight Productivity Pitfalls
Are You Living Your Life Eight Distracted Hours at a Time?
Case Study #5: Catherine Sorbara, PhD
Note
30 Is Everyone a Narcissist Now?
Narcissism is a Buzzword for Self‐Pity
Note
31 Seeing Through the Victim Illusion
How to Deal With People Who Play the Victim (Yourself Included)
Note
32 How Decision Fatigue Reduces Willpower
How Are You Spending Your Decision‐Making Units?
Notes
33 Hacking and Stacking Mini‐Habits to Success
The Habitual Mouse Gets the Cheese
Hacking and Stacking Mini‐Habits
Turn Deliberate Action into a Habit
Case Study #6: Jamie Johnston, R.M.T.
Note
34 Leveraging Boredom and Filling the Mental Void
Using Boredom to Build a More Creative Future
Filling the Void with Vitality and Adventure
Notes
CONCLUSION: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO INTELLIGENT ADVENTURE
Notes
EPILOGUE: LEGACY
BONUS: ACHIEVING ALIGNMENT
INDEX
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
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E1
“The key to success is learningthe meta‐language of learning. Learning how to learn. How to achieve peak performance in a difficult arena of life that requires mastering 100 micro‐skills to become among the best in that field. Isaiah Hankel breaks down that meta‐language, and shows us how, regardless of our life's mission, to quickly achieve mastery in whatever field of life inspires us.”
—James Altucher, Journalist and Author of Choose Yourself
“The biggest advantage of reading The Science of Intelligent Achievement is the sense of personal responsibility the book provides. Most books in this category are either pure fluff in that they offer nothing but feel good nonsense about how to ‘be grateful’ and ‘be nice’, or they are written with the goal of absolving the reader or any fault in life. Here, Isaiah takes a completely different angle as he puts the responsibility of choosing your focus, creating something worthwhile in life, and continuing to grow pragmatically squarely on the reader's shoulders. Every page pushes you to take control rather than give up control, to actively choose what to spend your mental energy on rather than just ‘letting go’ and hoping for the best. It's a great read if you're up for the challenge of taking ownership over the good and bad in your life.”
—Jordan Harbinger, Co‐Founder of The Art of Charm and Sirius Radio Talk Show Host
“The Science of Intelligent Achievement unapologetically slapped me in the face by telling me what common mistakes ‘average’ people do and how these ‘average’ habits and actions are keeping me in a mediocre career and life. There is something fresh and simple about Isaiah's ability to not sugar‐coat topics. This book is full of relatable stories and interesting facts that stay with you after you are done reading. I recommend this tough‐as‐nails self‐help book to anyone who wants to evaluate their direction in life.”
—Dr. Nick Ross, Senior R&D Engineer at Intel
“This is a jam‐packed book that is chock‐full of actionable and practical advice on the hard truth about what it takes to live a happy and successful life. You won't be able to make excuses for yourself after reading this book.”
—Ben Greenfield, Founder of Greenfield Fitness Systems and Advisor at EXOS Performance Nutrition
“Is there anything more boring thantraditional self‐help books? Thankfully Isaiah has written something untraditional here. The Science of Intelligent Achievement digs beneath the surface of what makes measurable growth possible – identifying the patterns, processes and science behind being successful in any field. He does all of this while infusing each chapter with real‐world examples, humor, and a much‐needed dose of personal responsibility and hard truth.”
—Anthony DiMarco, Entrepreneurs' Organization Global Trainer and CEO of the DiMarco Group
“The Science of Intelligent Achievement showed me how to take ownership of my life and how to organize and prioritize myself both professionally and personally. Make no mistake, the book is hard hitting and makes you face yourself head on. Each chapter practically forces you to start implementing positive and pragmatic changes. The book shows you that it's never too late to turn things around as long as you're willing to take personal responsibility for where you are in life.”
—Dr. Klodjan Stafa, Senior Scientist at Estée Lauder Companies
“Reading this book is like a healthy punch in the gut. Many of us ‘top performers’ present externally as having it all when, really, we're miserable inside chasing after someone else's version of success. Isaiah's gripping personal story is a harbinger of what can happen if you fail to listen to the voice inside reminding you of who you really are. His framework of selectivity, ownership and pragmatism is one I wished I had when I was going through a similar time. If you're ready to reclaim your life, live it according to your own standards, and take back control, you need this book. I dare you to read it and not come out transformed.”
—Margo Aaron, Former Strategic Planner at Hunter Straker, Founder of That Seems Important
“Isaiah has created a brilliant, practical, goal‐oriented, scientifically‐backed, self‐improvement book, suitable for anyone struggling to make the next step in their life or career. His new book has already been pivotal for me in harnessing my mental energy and focus to drive my career forward.”
—Dr. Yousuf Ali, Medical Science Liaison at Novartis
“Isaiah teaches how and why yourhabits, behaviors and values are at the core of performance or lack thereof. He doesn't sugarcoat anything so there aren't any wasted words or pages in any of his publications. This book just went to the top of my must read twice list.”
—Craig Morantz, Former CEO of Kira Talent and Founder of Vegan Labs
“The Science of Intelligent Achievement was a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because the book showed me how to be aware of the things that I do on a daily basis that waste my mental energy. You really don't realize how much energy you freely give away to people and situations that don't matter. Isaiah says repeatedly that busyness is not productivity and he is right. The book was a curse because it completely demolished all of my excuses and made me start taking responsibility for my decisions again.”
—Josh Birt, Video Producer for Twitter and Founder of Josh Birt Productions
“The Science of Intelligent Achievement is well researched and provides an excellent blueprint to real success. Every page is loaded with sage advice and you will find yourself savoring every morsel of it. You will learn how to live the life of your dreams by eliminating negative people, thoughts, and things that drain your mental energy. Stop being busy, develop focus, get rid of distractions, and master the art of effectiveness by using the free tools Isaiah provides here.”
—Linda Mitchell, IIN Health Coach, ADP Holistic Health Practitioner and CEO The ChickFit Studio
The Science of Intelligent Achievement
How smart people focus, create and grow their way to success
Isaiah Hankel
© 2018 Isaiah Hankel
Registered office
John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom.
For details of our global editorial offices, forcustomer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com.
The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data is Available:
ISBN 978–0–857–08760–7 (paperback)
ISBN 978–0–857–08770–6 (ePDF)
ISBN 978–0–857–08772–0 (ePub)
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: © Lava 4 images/Shutterstock
To my wife, Laura, and daughter, Zara
FOREWORD
Twenty years ago I left my hometown. Recently, I found myself back there. Unfortunately, I was there for my Grandpap's funeral. He was a patriarch, a war hero, and a role model for each member of our family. He had left a legacy behind by living with authenticity.
While reconnecting with siblings and greeting friends of the family, I was struck by how much I'd grown since I left town. I had been the first in our family to graduate college. I got married, I enrolled in graduate school, had a child, received a Ph.D., trained at the National Institutes of Health, and landed a dream job at Harvard Medical School (HMS). However, my path hasn't been easy.
In the beginning, I worked hard, but I didn't work smart.
I was out of focus. I wasn't living in reality. I hadn't taken full responsibility for my choices. I wasn't being strategic…and I definitely wasn't being authentic.
It wasn't until I had a frank and honest conversation about how I could leverage my experience and my interests to do something fulfilling and to start achieving intelligently. It was then that everything came into focus, I faced a harsh reality and took responsibility for my life and my career.
My journey is far from complete. And I do not go alone. In addition to my indomitable wife, I've had a few close friends and colleagues help me along the way. And of course I've returned the favor. When one of these friends asked me to write the foreword to his second book, I had to help him out and said yes immediately.
Isaiah and I first met via an email introduction. He had a novel approach to leadership and career development so I invited him to give a talk at HMS. Through several conversations and a growing friendship Isaiah was open to my advice, and criticisms. While my opinions were plentiful, he shrewdly picked up on the important points and began to craft his message and share it across the globe. I invited him back to HMS two more times, once for a Leadership Series and another for his Career Development workshops. In turn, he's twice invited me to appear on his webinar series where my aim was to empower professionals to confidently (and scientifically) take control of their career and lives.
In Isaiah's second book, The Science of Intelligent Achievement, he tackles some issues that apply to most everyone: focus, creative ownership, and pragmatic growth. When Isaiah brings up “Blind Spot Ignorance” in Chapter 29, he discusses how we can identify blind spots in others but not usually ourselves. He also states that self‐perception rarely matches social perception. To combat this Blind Spot Ignorance, Isaiah advises to keep blind your spots in full view. This requires a fearless self‐inventory where you take ownership of your shortcomings, mistakes, and biases. Once you self‐monitor for bad habits and potential pitfalls, you will no longer be “blindsided” by the truth and can begin to live with authenticity.
Selective investment of your focus, energy, and relationships; taking creative ownership of your path, success, and happiness; and a pragmatic approach to your decisions, habits, and overall growth will lead you towards your authentic self. And it's this kind of achievement that will result in increased productivity, a meaningful message, and a lasting legacy in your life.
I wish I had this book twenty years ago because to me, Intelligent Achievement starts and ends with authenticity, or as Isaiah calls it in this book “true success.”
—James Gould, Ph.D.,
Director, Office for Postdoctoral Fellows,
Harvard Medical School
PREFACE: A FOOL'S GUIDE TO FAKE SUCCESS
No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne
My real doctor was on vacation. This new doctor was merely stepping in to examine me as part of a routine annual physical. By chance, the new doctor was older, much more experienced, and had just diagnosed two other male patients with testicular tumors.
It was as if he was primed to diagnose me as well.
After noticing my right testicle was slightly smaller than my left, the doctor ordered a series of labs to confirm that I indeed had a tumor. What followed was the most life‐altering, life‐changing, terrifying experience I've ever had.
I was called in to have an ultrasound and, as the technician examined me, I could see the results in her eyes. I asked her sporadic questions and she gently dodged them with some “I don't knows” punctuated with a “we have to wait for the results from the radiologist.” Just like she's been trained to do for all the other people having biopsies and waiting on their death sentences, I thought.
My heart pounded harder and harder each time she avoided the obvious answer.
The doctor who performed the initial exams called me at eight o'clock the next morning to confirm that there was a mass in my right testicle and it had to be removed immediately.
As you might know from your own personal trials, news like this squeezes and twists your heart.
I was angry, sad, and lost. I walked around the city in a daze, and all the smiling people seemed so far from me. I was alone in this.
A few hours later, my surgery was scheduled…a few hours more and I was under the knife.
The Carefully Crafted Veil is Lifted
I woke up from the surgery, hungry and wonky from the drugs.
But hunger quickly turned into exhaustion. I was completely drained from worry and the trauma of surgery. Just as I got home and flopped down on the bed, weak and depressed, the urologist called me.
My heart jumped into my throat. The squeezing and twisting started again.
“Hello?” I whispered.
“Good news, Isaiah. The imaging results just came back and nothing has spread. I thought you'd want to know that before bed.”
Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God, Jesus, and all the angels, I thought.
I spent the next two weeks avoiding reality in more ways than one. Pain meds. TV binges. Pizza deliveries. My normal life full of responsibilities, work, errands, and things to do seemed to drift away, forgotten.
The pain meds ran out just as I was just getting used to my new comatose lifestyle.
Hello, reality. Hello, strange new world.
Nothing felt familiar. I was in unknown territory.
Something had changed in me. Something significant.
Who was I supposed to be now?
Slowly, the carefully crafted veil I had manufactured throughout the years—you know, all those illusions we design to shield us from the truth of our lives and the baser nature of ourselves—lifted, and I could see my life as it really was with stark clarity.
Not the life that I was pretending to live.
Not the life that I had shown to other people at work or on Facebook.
Not the life that I had projected for so long that I had come to believe it was real.
My actual, authentic, ugly life.
I slowly realized that I had spent years chasing after illusions, following a fool's guide to fake success. And as for my achievements in this pursuit, what were they really? Everything that made me “me” now seemed as lasting and meaningful as a sandcastle on the shore's edge. None of it mattered.
The surface nature of all my relationships was suddenly glaringly obvious. That's what immediately stood out. I didn't like or admire any of my so‐called friends. My life is a lie in so many ways, I thought.
Then, I saw the falsity—the mocking joke of my chosen career path.
This is not me, this job, I thought. This isn't what I want or am meant to do with my life.
My “healthy lifestyle” was laughable. How healthy could a fake life be? How much was I depleting my health and energy to live a lie?
My fake personality. My fake identity.
One after another, all the falsities and pretenses of my life were paraded before me.
What a fraud I had become. No, worse, I was a disaster.
My relationships were a disaster. Half of them had faded into the background of my life and the other half were completely fake to begin with. Connections that had once been built on shared values and tied together tightly with meaning, were now frayed, loose, and superficial.
I was no longer selective with who I gave my time and energy to. Instead, I had become completely passive, allowing anything and anyone into my life.
My career was a disaster. I thought I had achieved an untouchable job title. I thought I had become irreplaceable. In reality, my employer was ready to cut me loose after three weeks of medical leave. I was completely dependent on them for my survival. I owned nothing and owed everything.
My health, which I once touted as Olympic‐level when I was a NCAA Division I wrestler at University, was now average at best, thanks to an undisciplined diet and “just a couple of beers with the guys” every night.
I stopped being reasonable and pragmatic, choosing instead to live life with my head in the clouds. I chose to evade reality. I avoided even the slightest attachment to personal responsibility because surely someone else was watching out for me. Surely, there were no real consequences to this life and even if there were, I could turn everything around at a moment's notice if I really wanted to.
Within two months of my surgery, I went from feeling on top of the world to realizing that I was just a few weeks away from being broke…and that I was completely alone, completely out of touch with reality, and soon to be remembered only as a cautionary tale.
From Tragedy to Intelligent Achievement
Tragedy, while painful, is enlightening.
Tragedy is an opportunity for growth.
When I found out the news that I needed surgery, the first thing that jumped in my head was, “This can't be happening.”
Now, I'm thankful that it did. The diagnosis changed my life for the better. It showed me how foolish I had been, chasing after fake signals of achievement. Cancer showed me everything that I had wasted and taught me that it was time for me to do a hard reevaluation of my life.
It didn't happen overnight. Nothing good does.
Slowly, I learned where I needed to stop spending my energy and where to start investing my energy instead.
Over the course of the next year, I stopped following my fool's guide to fake success. I stopped wasting time on things like my “image,” job title, salary, and—especially—the next good time.
Instead, I started selectively focusing my energy in new, positive people and pursuits. I stopped allowing myself to be dependent on others and instead took creative ownership over my own success and happiness. I also decided to get back in touch with reality. I decided to start exercising pragmatic growth—to see things for how they are, not just how I wanted them to be.
Together, these three things—selectivity, ownership, and pragmatism—came together to form a kind of guidepost for me; one that directed me toward The Science of Intelligent Achievement, instead of fake success.
Now, thanks to this guidepost, I'm married to my best friend, I run two companies with close friends and colleagues—companies that help hundreds of thousands of people and are truly successful in terms of both profits and cash‐flow—and just welcomed my first kid into the world.
Enter this book.
I wrote The Science of Intelligent Achievement to show you how to create your own guidepost of selectivity, ownership, and pragmatism; and in part as a cautionary tale, to help you avoid the common mistake of chasing after fake success like I did.
My hope is that the pages that follow will lead you to the highest levels of Intelligent Achievement in your own life.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is for everyone who helped me achieve real success through selective focus, creative ownership, and pragmatic growth. Hard lessons and incredible people made this possible.
To my family, including my wife and daughter, Laura and Zara, who have filled my life with many intelligent adventures. To my parents, John and Karen, and my brother and sister, Noah and Jessica, for teaching me the importance of taking ownership over my life and for always reminding me to be selective with my mental energy.
To Team Cheeky, including all of my friends and colleagues at Cheeky Scientist for helping me make a pragmatic difference in the world. Thank you for working so hard to turn our message, “Remember your value as a PhD” into a magnet.
To all the members of the Cheeky Scientist Association for continually striving to improve their lives and improve the world. You are all an example of seeing through the victim illusion and turning pain into productivity.
To everyone who has ever supported or spoken well of Hankel Leadership, including members of My Life Aligned. You have set the standard for the law of relaxed productivity. Keep avoiding willpower depletion and keep hacking and stacking mini‐habits to success.
To Annie, Chloe, Pete, and everyone at Wiley for believing in this book and helping me bring it to life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Isaiah Hankel received his doctorate in Anatomy and Cell Biology and is an expert on mental focus, behavioral psychology, and career development. His work has been featured in The Guardian, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Isaiah's previous book, Black Hole Focus, was published by Wiley, and was selected as Business Book of the Month in the U.K., and became a business bestseller internationally. Isaiah has delivered corporate presentations to over 20,000 people, including over 300 workshops and keynotes worldwide in the past five years.
Isaiah is the founder and CEO of Cheeky Scientist, a career training company that specializes in helping PhDs transition into corporate careers; he is also the director of Hankel Leadership. Through these ventures, Isaiah has consulted on career development, employee management, entrepreneurship, focus, and motivation at several Fortune 500 companies. He has been invited to speak at top institutions including Harvard Medical School, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Chicago, the University of Oxford, the Marie Curie Institute France, and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Isaiah grew up working on a sheep farm in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. before going on to get his doctorate. After receiving his doctorate, Isaiah started and successfully exited several other technology‐based companies, and then went on to be formally trained in the fields of behavioral economics, behavior psychology, and online marketing. Isaiah's blue‐collar background, white‐collar corporate training, and academic credentials allow him to work with a wide range of organizations and connect meaningfully with all types of individuals and institutions.
INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS INTELLIGENT ACHIEVEMENT?
Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.
—Albert Einstein
Achievement is about value. It's about attaining value through effort and skill.
The question is, what do you currently value?
What are you working to attain?
Have you been taught to value your job title or your relationship with some other person above all else? Have you been convinced that the most valuable things in life are your paycheck, the number of people who say “hello” to you at the office, and the number of people who say “I need you” at home?
Or, have you become so passive in what you value that you let anyone and anything into your life, as long as whatever you let in allows you to stay disconnected from the cold hard truth that when things really go wrong in your life, the only person who will be able to fix it, and the only person who will be responsible for it, is you.
Welcome to fake success.
Passivity, dependence, and the sacrifice of realism and personal responsibility to whatever fuzzy, grandiose ideal is currently trending in the ether of your mind—these are the markers of fake success.
Fake success is a moving target. It's unstable, as I learned the hard way. I thought staying busy, competing with others at the office, and thinking as big as possible was my meal ticket to permanent achievement. But it was all an illusion. What I had built up in my mind as the pinnacle of existence was dark and empty.
My laissez‐faire attitude about my attention and where I put it…the mutual feelings of security that came from needing other people and them needing me…the joy and freedom of keeping my head in the clouds so I never had to commit to anyone or anything.
…oh, how I cherished my broken little toys.
Once things went wonky in my life though, I saw just how hollow this kind of fake success is.
Intelligent Achievement, on the other hand, is not a moving target. It's not empty either. Instead, it's sturdy, full, and immovable.
It's not something that's just handed to you. It's not something you're nudged into chasing or coerced into wanting.
Intelligent Achievement comes from within you. It's a collection of values that are aligned with who you are—values you have to protect and nurture. These values do not increase your dependence on other people and things. Instead, they relieve you of dependence.
Intelligent Achievement is something that you have a part in building from the ground up—you know what's in it—you chose it, someone else didn't choose it for you. It's instilled with your purpose and it's something you alone are responsible for.
Intelligent Achievement teaches you the scientific process of finding success through your most valuable assets—selective focus, creative ownership, and pragmatic growth—first, by developing your focus and learning how to conserve your mental energy.
If you've failed to reach an important goal because you were distracted, misinformed, or overcommitted, then you know the role focus and selectivity play in achievement.
Second, you will learn how to stop allowing your happiness and success to be dependent on other people. A bank, tax collector, or the government may be able to take away your house, business, savings, stocks, and other indicators of fake success, but they can never take away your knowledge, network, or ability. You must take creative ownership over these three things in your life.
Finally, you will learn the art of changing your life through pragmatic decisions and actions. Self‐improvement is not the result of dramatic changes. Instead, personal and professional change is initiated and sustained by consistent, practical changes. To grow, you must leverage the power of micro‐decisions, personal responsibility, and mini‐habits. Your own biology will not let you improve your life in any other way.
Intelligent Achievement will also show you how to avoid falling into the trap of chasing fake success. What fake success signals have you been pursuing? Your image? Job titles? Annual salary? Facebook friends?
Chasing empty indicators of success has left millions of people in a variety of careers—blue‐collar, white‐collar, and academics alike—leading a vacuous, shallow life, that leaves them burnt out, dependent, and disconnected.
It's never too late to turn things around. Whether you want to reach higher levels of true achievement in your career or in your personal life, you need to start valuing the right things now: selective focus, creative ownership, and pragmatic growth.
Part 1Selective Focus
Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance is not laziness. This is hard for most to accept, because our culture tends to reward personal sacrifice instead of personal productivity.
—Tim Ferriss
Selectivity is the gateway to productivity. Learning to be highly selective in terms of your attention, and your mental energy levels overall, is the first step on the path towards Intelligent Achievement
