Time stamped show notes:
[00:06] Introduction to Eric Barker, from Barking Up The Wrong Tree
[00:32] His book just came out. Purpose is to dispel myths of success.
[2:14] Before the explosion of the internet information was harder to come by, but the sources were more legitimate.
[3:23] Eric wrote for Disney and Fox.
[5:21] Everybody talks about being more confident, but there is a problem with too much confidence that no one addresses.
[6:30] People can do just as well without the downside of narcissism on the Buddhist concept of self-compassion
[6:43] Self-compassion has all the benefits of self-confidence
[8:07] The problem with being focused on being confident is that confidence is contingent on achieving the goals.
[8:34] Self-compassion means that you will see things realistically and you're going to have self-compassion when things don't go well.
[10:39] Believing that you're “the best” creates an imbalance of who you think you are and who think people are
[11:12] Confidence impresses people, but doesn't make you likeable
[12:05] Biggest struggle for Eric at the moment: work life balance
[13:45] Collapsing metric – measuring success in life based on one thing (money, job, etc.)
[19:05] Key: producing content that is valuable to readers
[20:27] Give people something they can really use
[24:23] People are going to demand more filters
[25:48] How he keeps deadlines and enjoys life.
[27:54] Framework. Longest time he spends on a blog post. Shortest time he spends on a blog post.
[30:01] He was reluctant to produce original content because of how long it takes to produce.
[30:48] Things he would like to change in the future/ get some leverage and increase the mission and help more people: ancillary tasks & personal things
[35:23] Success is a subjective term. We can describe it ourselves
[35:29] Often success is a two part thing: (1) know who you are & signature strengths and knowing what your intensifiers are
[36:21] Intensifiers: qualities that are bad, but in the right circumstances can be good
[37:09] (2) picking the right pawn – finding an environment that rewards your strengths and intensifiers
[41:47] Research: If a top analyst left the company alone he was no longer top analyst at his new company. If he brought his team with him/her, he was top analyst in new company.
Three key points:
- People can do just as well without the downside of narcissism on the Buddhist concept of self-compassion. Confidence impresses people, but doesn't make you likeable
- Give people something they can really use. Product content that is valuable to readers
- Success is a two part thing:(1) knowing who you are & signature strengths and knowing what your intensifiers are; and (2) picking the right pawn – finding an environment that rewards your strengths and intensifiers
Last Question:
Check out his book or blog.