Book 1 of The Hope-Forged Series

The Hope-Ioid
Epidemic

The Wrong Prescription Has Been Killing Your Hope.

Dr. Dustin A. Jackson, Ph.D.  ⚒  U.S. Marine  ⚒  Organizational Psychologist  ⚒  Phoenix, AZ

Most leaders, educators, and parents have been solving the wrong problem.
They've been prescribing optimism and calling it hope.
The data proves the difference is devastating.

Get Early Access Discover the Science
0.515
Hope's Path Coefficient
0.000
Optimism's Coefficient. Not low. Zero.
20+
Years of Research
16
Countries on Stage
Scroll
"

People don't resist change — they resist hopeless change.

— Dr. Dustin A. Jackson, Ph.D.

🔥
THE HOPE-IOID EPIDEMIC
The Wrong Prescription Has Been Killing Your Hope
Dr. Dustin A. Jackson, Ph.D.
⚒ Book 1 of The Hope-Forged Series
The Book

The wrong prescription
has been killing your hope

For decades the leadership world has prescribed optimism as the remedy for resistance, disengagement, and poor performance. My doctoral research ended that assumption permanently.

0.515
Hope — Path Coefficient for Change Readiness The single strongest predictor of whether a human being will navigate difficulty or resist it. Peer-reviewed. Published. Verifiable.
0.000
Optimism — Path Coefficient for Change Readiness The most widely prescribed remedy in leadership development has no statistical significance. Not low. Zero.
"The prescription the world has been handing people for decades is statistically inert. This book is the corrective."
☠️
The Nocebo Effect
The scientific opposite of the placebo effect. Silence doesn't create neutrality — it activates the brain's threat response and produces the worst possible story in every person who works, studies, or lives in that environment.
🧠
The Two-Brain Model
The Cerebral Brain thinks. The Cave-Brain decides. Logic, data, and inspiration consistently fail to move people operating from a primal threat state. This book shows you how to speak to the brain that actually makes decisions.
⚗️
The Priming Formula
Primal Needs + Hope − Nocebo Effect = Psychological Priming. The first science-backed equation for building hope deliberately and reducing resistance neurologically before any initiative, conversation, or change begins.
Join the Beta Reader List
⚒

Be the first to
forge your hope

The manuscript is with beta readers now. The book is coming. Join the list and be among the first to access the science, the frameworks, and the formula that changes everything.

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Dr. Dustin A. Jackson on stage
U.S. Marine
100% P&T
Disabled Veteran
About the Author

Built from
the forge

Born in a trailer park in Buckeye, Arizona with no air conditioning, no safety net, and no plan. Got a GED instead of a diploma. At eighteen I walked into a Marine Corps recruiting office with nothing but a chip on my shoulder and enough grit to do something with it.

Honorably discharged. 100% Permanently and Totally disabled. The things I carried home from that service I still carry today. What came after is what most people lead with. I will not.

I am a global keynote speaker who has stood on stages in sixteen countries. My doctoral research identified hope as the single strongest predictor of psychological readiness — a finding that permanently separates hope from optimism with data no other speaker or author in this space can claim.

🎖️
United States Marine Corps — Honorably Discharged
Commandant of the Marine Corps Achievement Award  ·  Certificate of Commendation  ·  Two Meritorious Promotions  ·  100% Permanent & Total Disability
Grand Canyon University
Ph.D. — Industrial & Organizational Psychology
Harvard University
Neuroscience Certification
Johns Hopkins University
Fundamental Neuroscience for Neuroimaging
MIT
Leading Change in Turbulent Times
Wharton / Copenhagen / Berkeley
Business Strategy · Consumer Neuroscience · Workplace Happiness
ACMP — Former Global Board Member
CCMP · MCMP · Prosci Master Trainer

"I live in Phoenix, Arizona. The heat does not ask permission before it arrives. Neither do I."

Keynote Speaking

Built for the rooms
that need it most

Sixteen countries. Fortune 500 boardrooms. Title I classrooms. Military commands. Every room has the same brain. Every brain needs the same science. Every keynote changes how your people see what is possible.

01
The Hope-Ioid Epidemic
Why organizations are prescribing the wrong remedy for resistance — and what the neuroscience actually says about human performance and change readiness.
02
The Nocebo Effect in Leadership
How negative expectations and communication gaps are quietly destroying engagement, performance, and trust — and the formula for reversing it before Monday.
03
The Priming Formula
A three-component neuroscience framework for building hope, reducing resistance, and driving sustainable performance in any individual or team.
04
Cave-Brain & the Dopamine Dealers
Understanding what is competing for your people's attention — and the neuroscience of winning it back before your message or mission is lost.
05
Hope Is Not Optimism
The doctoral finding that should permanently change how every leader, educator, and parent measures and builds human performance. 0.515 vs. zero.
06
The Cognitive Forge
A three-phase model for identity-level transformation derived from the neuroscience of the Marine Corps — validated by the author's own lived experience.
Clients & Stages Include
Google IBM Disney T-Mobile Accenture American Express Paycom Allstate Salt River Project Washington Mandela Fellowship ACMP Global SHRM WorkTech CoreNet Arizona State University
Book a Keynote
The Hope-Forged Series

A trilogy built on
one truth

Hope is not a feeling. It is a science. And it is an architecture. The Hope-Forged Series is three books — one body of work — that takes you from diagnosis to formula to mastery.

Book One
🔥
The Hope-Ioid Epidemic
The Wrong Prescription Has Been Killing Your Hope
The diagnosis. Twenty years of research, neuroscience, and frameworks that permanently separate hope from optimism — and deliver the formula for building the real thing.
⚒ Available Now — Beta Reading
Book Two
⚙️
The Primal Code
Cracking the Brain's Hidden Operating System for Change
The deeper science. The brain's hidden operating system — the primal architecture beneath every decision, every resistance, and every transformation.
◦ Coming Soon
Book Three
⚒
Hope-Forged
The Destination the Whole Trilogy Was Building Toward
The mastery. The complete architecture of hope-forged leadership, identity, and human performance. The destination the whole series was building toward.
◦ Coming Soon
What Readers Are Saying

From the people who
hold it first

"

This is the book I have been waiting for my entire career in HR. The 0.515 finding stopped me cold. I immediately thought of every initiative we have run that failed — and finally understood why.

Beta Reader Senior HR Director, Fortune 500
"

Chapter 8 is the most honest thing I have ever read about what it costs to rebuild from the ground up. I read it twice before I turned the page. The forge metaphor will stay with me forever.

Beta Reader Executive Coach & Author
"

I have read every major leadership book in the last decade. This is the one that changes the foundation. Not just what we do — why we have been doing it wrong. The Nocebo Effect chapter alone is worth the entire book.

Beta Reader Change Management Professional, CCMP

* Testimonials from advance beta readers. Additional responses being collected.

Media & Press

The story the world
needs to hear

🎙️ Podcast
Available for Podcast Interviews
Leadership · HR · Neuroscience · Personal Development
Book an Interview →
📰 Press
Available for Editorial Features
Business · Leadership · Veterans · Neuroscience
Request a Press Kit →
📺 Speaking Reel
Speaking Reel in Production
16 Countries · Fortune 500 · Global Conferences
Request References →
Media Inquiries Welcome
Dr. Jackson is available for podcast appearances, editorial features, expert commentary on hope, neuroscience, leadership, and veteran resilience. Full press kit available on request.
Contact for Media
Get in Touch

Let's build
hope together

Email
Dr.DustinJackson@gmail.com
Phone
(602) 206-2119
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
The heat does not ask permission before it arrives. Neither do I.
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/dustinajackson
Speaking Inquiries
Available for keynote speaking, workshop facilitation, and consulting engagements. Sixteen countries of stage experience. Fortune 500 clients. Use the form to start the conversation.
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