Published by Grand Central Publishing on 18 Sept 2012
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In an unorthodox approach, Georgetown University professor Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice, and sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving their careers.
Not only are pre-existing passions rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work, but a focus on passion over skill can be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping. Spending time with organic farmers, venture capitalists, screenwriters, freelance computer programmers, and others who admitted to deriving great satisfaction from their work, Newport uncovers the strategies they used and the pitfalls they avoided in developing their compelling careers.
Cal reveals that matching your job to a pre-existing passion does not matter. Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.
With a title taken from the comedian Steve Martin, who once said his advice for aspiring entertainers was to "be so good they can't ignore you," Cal Newport's clearly written manifesto is mandatory reading for anyone fretting about what to do with their life, or frustrated by their current job situation and eager to find a fresh new way to take control of their livelihood. He provides an evidence-based blueprint for creating work you love, and will change the way you think about careers, happiness, and the crafting of a remarkable life.
I recently graduated from college and am now at a time in my life where I should be starting my career. I'm privileged to be in a financial position where I don't have to worry about making a living, but can pursue whatever I find fulfilling, whatever I have passion for. But I don't know what I'm passionate about, and I feel so inadequate for it. I've become frustrated about pursuing a career starting from a place of passion. So this title introducing a different career method from a place of skill instead of a place of passion really jumped out at me.
For Newport, "follow your passion" is about the worst advice you could give. Instead, "be so good they can't ignore you." Newport believes that passion is rare, takes time, and is a side effect of mastery; people who follow their passion successfully are the exception, not the rule.
The essence of being so good they can't ignore you is to create work you love by building enough career capital--rare and valuable skills--to invest into control and your mission--two traits that define sustainable, compelling careers. This requires dedication to the strain of deliberate practice. You cannot have control or identify your mission without sufficient career capital. Career capital takes you to the cutting edge of your field, where you can discover innovation at the adjacent possible. To explore those possibilities, you need to take lots of little bets to generate feedback and transform your mission into something remarkable.
The book explains these bolded concepts in more detail with more nuance and includes summaries at the end of every chapter.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with identifying a passion or who is about to pursue an identified passion (or is even already in pursuit of it). For those like me who are struggling with identifying a passion, this book may encourage you to redirect your efforts. For those who are contemplating a leap to explore a new passion, this book may clarify and revise your decision making process and strategy.
