Cal Newport, a professor at Georgetown University, takes an unorthodox technique to undermine the long-held assumption that “follow your passion” is sound advice, and sets out on a mission to learn the truth about how people end up loving their work.
Not only are pre-existing hobbies uncommon and have no bearing on how the majority of individuals end up loving their profession, but a concentration on passion over expertise can be perilous, leading to anxiety and frequent job hopping. Spending time with organic farmers, venture capitalists, screenwriters, and freelance computer programmers who admitted to receiving enormous satisfaction from their work, Newport reveals the techniques they employed and the dangers they avoided to establish their engaging careers.
Cal demonstrates that it is irrelevant to match your career to a preexisting passion. Prior to putting in the effort required to thrive at something of value, passion is absent. In other words, how you make a living is significantly more essential than what you do for a living.
With a title borrowed from comedian Steve Martin, who once advised aspiring entertainers to “be so good they can’t ignore you,” Cal Newport’s manifesto is required reading for anyone unsure of what to do with their life or dissatisfied with their current job and eager to find a new way to take charge of their financial future. It will revolutionize the way you think about careers, happiness, and the creation of a great life, as he gives a plan based on empirical facts for designing work you love.
Key ideas in this book:
- Why should I care?
- Passion is uncommon, and seeking for a career you’re enthusiastic about typically results in misery and discontentment.
- Do not pursue your passions. Learn to enjoy your work by attaining mastery, autonomy, and connectedness.
- Adopt the mindset of a craftsman, practice diligently, and leave your comfort zone.
- Collect career capital by obtaining unique and important skills in order to obtain a wonderful job.
- Acquire career capital in order to keep authority and independence at work.
- Use the craftsman mindset to develop a motivating mission that serves as a unifying objective for your work life.
- Mission success takes daring wagers and standing out from the crowd.
About the Author:
In 2009, Cal Newport obtained a doctorate in computer science. He was a post-doctoral associate at MIT and on his way to becoming a professor when he discovered how difficult it was to find an academic position. For familial considerations, he desired to remain in the United States, but he discovered that doing so may require him to start from scratch. This book explores the solutions he discovered to the issue, “How do you end up liking what you do?”
