The Science of Intelligent Achievement: How Smart People Focus, Create and Grow Their Way to Success

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.

Isaiah Hankel is the founder and CEO of Cheeky Scientist, a career training company that specialises in helping PhDs and other advanced degree holders transition into corporate careers. He is also a managing partner of Expert Cytometry, a technology company that specialises in flow cytometry-based cancer research. Through these ventures, Isaiah has spoken and trained on career development, employee management, entrepreneurship, focus, and motivation at many of the worlds largest companies including Merlin Entertainment, Merck, MedImmune, T-Mobile, Pfizer, and Amgen. He has also been invited to speak at top institutions including the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the UK Cancer Research Center, Marie Curie Institute France, Harvard Medical School, MIT, Stanford University, and the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. In addition to his consulting work, Isaiahs personally branded website (IsaiahHankel.com) attracts employees and entrepreneurs across all industries and levels with his scientific approach and tangible methodology to the pursuit of purpose, focus, and professional growth.  Isaiah has developed a membership and training program under the Cheeky Scientist umbrella named the Cheeky Scientist Association, which now has over 2,500 active members worldwide. He has also developed a membership and training program under the Expert Cytometry umbrella named the Flow Cytometry Mastery Class, which has over 1,000 active members worldwide. Through his training programs, Isaiah has developed corporate sponsorships with ThermoFisher, Beckman Coulter (a Danaher company), MedImmune, Regeneron, Merck, and the SickKids Foundation. Isaiahs first book, Black Hole Focus: How Intelligent People Can Create a More Powerful Purpose for Their Lives, has sold over 11,000 copies internationally. He has been featured as an expert on mental focus, behavioral psychology, and career development in The Guardian, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur Magazine. He has delivered corporate presentations to over 30,000 people in the US and internationally, including over 300 workshops and keynotes worldwide in the past 5 years.