#Books : Cal Newport- Debunking Passion, Transforming Mindset
How often are you are advised You gotta be passionate about it to achieve something in your life or to fulfil your dreams? Everyone is talking about passion. We find 100 quotes on passion and being passionate however there is so much ambiguity that youngsters like me at least most of us who do not have any skilled hobbies like playing the guitar or singing or being a state level player at any sport and we often are speechless when asked what are you passionate about?
I fail to understand passion because I think I am passionate about many things or I am still discovering what I am or will be passionate about. As the ambiguity continues Cal Newport's book So Good they can't ignore you brings some clarity for people who aim for a remarkable career. I am often worried and try to think a lot about the career choices I make if it will be worth or will my interest in a particular course sustain, etc which makes me anxious and this book enabled me not only to have some clarity but also to plan my career.
The first chapter starts with the Passion of Steve Jobs in which Cal presents an interesting and unconventional argument. When Steve Jobs at a convocation ceremony advised students to Follow their passion and never settle. This video on Youtube was viewed by millions. Cal argues that Follow your passion is a terrible advice to a young person because according to him even Steve Job's didn't follow his own advice. He explains that Jobs didn't start out to make an iconic company. He started with very little, he was as confused as many of us. He tried and failed and tried and later skilled at it and that mastery boosted his confidence and of course, he ended up loving what he did but that suggests that it is good to love what you do. But how do we find work that we will eventually love?
Job's story generates more and more questions about how do you start? How do you be sure about what you are starting? How do you decide will it work in the volatile world of ours? How do we realise it is not working and change careers? Perhaps the only thing that is clear is that for Jobs "Follow your Passion" was not particularly a useful advice.
As one progresses reading the book Cal presents various arguments backed by case studies, detailed research and debunks the passion mindset and introduces Craftsman Mindset. He writes that the Passion Mindset in simple words is about what the world can offer you and Craftsman Mindset is what you can offer to the world that is rare and valuable.
He then introduces this term "career capital" which entails the foundation to create the work you love and in order to generate this capital you need become good at something which is rare and valuable. Throughout the book, he introduces various concepts to make this quest of career development a systematic one so one can plan accordingly. He eventually lands on creating remarkable work which means that being so good that people remark about it.
From what I understand, Cal challenges conventional wisdom like to follow your passion or run after money, etc and he believes that with recent trend of influencers, career coaches telling you to aspire for a lifestyle full of your interest which generally makes it confusing for many young people as to what are their interests and if they have any can they make a career out of it? He presents case studies of people who chose unconventional paths which a passion mindset for all happy life but they do fail eventually because they do not aim at the mastery and are just driven by impulse and are unable to sustain after some point.
Cal's advice is simple. In order to have a remarkable career, all you need is to find things that interest you. Adopt a Craftsman mindset which entails focusing on Mastery of those skills and defines what makes great work great and chose a workplace which will enable you to grow and Master your skills and once you get these things right. You should not focus on if I love this or not but with deliberate practice how can I be so good at it that you eventually fall in love with it because you have mastered it which will eventually bring great satisfaction.
To Wrap Up
The book is extremely well research and is loaded with Cal Newport's incredible style and storytelling which makes it riveting. I admire the fact that the book is so systematic and the details are organised so well. This is directly an amazing book comparing to the career books I read in the past. I must applaud the author for being so thoughtful about this very important thing that when he explained so many terms like Career capital, deliberate practice, etc I used to wonder as I progress reading how am I going to remember so many but I realised how creatively avoiding any kind of repetition he would add a summary of these terms in a creative way after few chapters. Which is indeed rare. Apart from that He has also mentioned certain rules which are meticulously written like a career guide. In the conclusion of the book, he mentions how he implemented his rules in detail which I found interesting and which makes this book authentic and credible. I highly recommend to people who aim for a remarkable career.
I conclude by these incredible lines by the erudite Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe which is a reminder for all of us.
"Everyone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a figure. But it's the same with that type of artistic activity as with all others: We are merely born with the capability to do it. The skill to mould the material into what we want must be learned and attentively cultivated."
By Rahul Bagwe
I fail to understand passion because I think I am passionate about many things or I am still discovering what I am or will be passionate about. As the ambiguity continues Cal Newport's book So Good they can't ignore you brings some clarity for people who aim for a remarkable career. I am often worried and try to think a lot about the career choices I make if it will be worth or will my interest in a particular course sustain, etc which makes me anxious and this book enabled me not only to have some clarity but also to plan my career.
The first chapter starts with the Passion of Steve Jobs in which Cal presents an interesting and unconventional argument. When Steve Jobs at a convocation ceremony advised students to Follow their passion and never settle. This video on Youtube was viewed by millions. Cal argues that Follow your passion is a terrible advice to a young person because according to him even Steve Job's didn't follow his own advice. He explains that Jobs didn't start out to make an iconic company. He started with very little, he was as confused as many of us. He tried and failed and tried and later skilled at it and that mastery boosted his confidence and of course, he ended up loving what he did but that suggests that it is good to love what you do. But how do we find work that we will eventually love?
Job's story generates more and more questions about how do you start? How do you be sure about what you are starting? How do you decide will it work in the volatile world of ours? How do we realise it is not working and change careers? Perhaps the only thing that is clear is that for Jobs "Follow your Passion" was not particularly a useful advice.
As one progresses reading the book Cal presents various arguments backed by case studies, detailed research and debunks the passion mindset and introduces Craftsman Mindset. He writes that the Passion Mindset in simple words is about what the world can offer you and Craftsman Mindset is what you can offer to the world that is rare and valuable.
He then introduces this term "career capital" which entails the foundation to create the work you love and in order to generate this capital you need become good at something which is rare and valuable. Throughout the book, he introduces various concepts to make this quest of career development a systematic one so one can plan accordingly. He eventually lands on creating remarkable work which means that being so good that people remark about it.
#MyWritingMoments
From what I understand, Cal challenges conventional wisdom like to follow your passion or run after money, etc and he believes that with recent trend of influencers, career coaches telling you to aspire for a lifestyle full of your interest which generally makes it confusing for many young people as to what are their interests and if they have any can they make a career out of it? He presents case studies of people who chose unconventional paths which a passion mindset for all happy life but they do fail eventually because they do not aim at the mastery and are just driven by impulse and are unable to sustain after some point.
Cal's advice is simple. In order to have a remarkable career, all you need is to find things that interest you. Adopt a Craftsman mindset which entails focusing on Mastery of those skills and defines what makes great work great and chose a workplace which will enable you to grow and Master your skills and once you get these things right. You should not focus on if I love this or not but with deliberate practice how can I be so good at it that you eventually fall in love with it because you have mastered it which will eventually bring great satisfaction.
Cal Newport
Picture Credits: Youtube
To Wrap Up
The book is extremely well research and is loaded with Cal Newport's incredible style and storytelling which makes it riveting. I admire the fact that the book is so systematic and the details are organised so well. This is directly an amazing book comparing to the career books I read in the past. I must applaud the author for being so thoughtful about this very important thing that when he explained so many terms like Career capital, deliberate practice, etc I used to wonder as I progress reading how am I going to remember so many but I realised how creatively avoiding any kind of repetition he would add a summary of these terms in a creative way after few chapters. Which is indeed rare. Apart from that He has also mentioned certain rules which are meticulously written like a career guide. In the conclusion of the book, he mentions how he implemented his rules in detail which I found interesting and which makes this book authentic and credible. I highly recommend to people who aim for a remarkable career.
I conclude by these incredible lines by the erudite Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe which is a reminder for all of us.
"Everyone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a figure. But it's the same with that type of artistic activity as with all others: We are merely born with the capability to do it. The skill to mould the material into what we want must be learned and attentively cultivated."
By Rahul Bagwe
Comments
Post a Comment