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So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Cal Newport

So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love Cover
Rating
8.5/10
Difficulty
Light
Read time
7 hours
Best in
Print & Kindle

288 pagesRead April 26, 2014

Before readingWhy I picked it up

I can't lie, I was really pulled in by this book's title. I also agreed that simply following your passion isn't that good a piece of advice. My goal before getting the book was figuring out a mindset towards finding enjoyment in something that you didn't initially have a passion for as well as improving my appreciation of craftsmanship.

After readingPosted

I'll gladly take Cal Newport's kind of career advice over Peter Drucker's any day of the week. Whereas I felt like I was positioning myself to be an optimal cog in the machine while reading Peter Drucker's writing, reading Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You, felt so empowering and liberating. He provides a framework and mindset to figure out what works for you while giving you some straight advice on how you can add value.

Newport tears down the Passion trend, of Passion Hypothesis that the key to occupational happiness is first to figure out what you're passionate about and then find a job that matches that passion." Wrong, Newport says, instead he suggests in order to construct work you love, you must first build career capital by mastering rare and valuable skills, and then catch I this capital for the type of traits that define compelling traits. The passion mindset focuses on what the world can offer you, but instead we should take the craftsman mindset approach and build skills that allow us to focus on what we can contribute and offer the world.

Three reasons to read it

  1. Learn about the craftsman mindset.
  2. You are in search of a fulfilling career and not just a "job"
  3. You are in college, a recent grade or looking to switch careers

Notes for this book are still being transcribed.