Cal Newport discusses an interview done by comedian Steve Martin who was asked how to make it in a difficult industry such as comedy. He answered that you should “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” The relentless focus on constantly improving and producing results is known as the Craftsman Mindset:

The job presents few opportunities to distinguish yourself by developing relevant skills that are rare and valuable. The law of financial viability: you should only pursue a bid for more control if you have evidence that what you do is something that people are willing to pay you for.Thus, when you become better at what you do, you will feel accomplished and work toward career success. Further, you will be rewarded with more control over your responsibilities. Chapter Three: Passion Is Dangerous Patience involves the willingness to ignore other pursuits in building career capital. Rule #3: Turn Down a Promotion (Or, the Importance of Control) Chapter 8: The Dream-Job Elixir Rule #4 emphasizes that “mission is one of the most important traits you can acquire with your career capital.” Chapter Twelve: The Meaningful Life Of Pardis Sabeti Giving the perfect example of how Steve Jobs was never passionate about computers to begin with (he was actually profoundly passionate about Zen Buddhism), Newport explains that passion is not only rare but that it takes time and is a side effect of mastery.

Look for Open Gates, which are the few “opportunities to build capital that are already open to you,” which get more career capital at a faster rate. Little Bets – the small and achievable projects to explore productive ways to turn a vague mission idea into specific successful endeavors Giving people more control over what they do and how they do it increases their happiness, engagement, and sense of fulfillment.” Chapter Nine: The First Control Trap Spend time to understand the competition in your field and know what they are doing to perform well. Have the spirit to outdo the best in your field without any fear but with only courage and heart. The Law of Remarkability – a law that states that “for a mission-driven project to succeed, it should be remarkable in two different ways:

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Mission is another example of career capital theory in action. If you want a mission, you need to first acquire capital.

Passion Takes Time: The most passionate workers did not follow their passion into a job but instead stayed in their work or industry long enough to master what they did. You need to get good before you can expect good work. Thus, invest your (extensive) career capital into gaining one of the most important traits of Control (Dream-Job Elixir) over your work: In So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport tries to answer the following question: “Why do some people end up loving what they do, while so many others fail at this goal?” He presents four rules to help you cultivate your passion and find love for what you do. Cal Newport discusses why “follow your passion” is terrible career advice that leads people down unrewarding paths. In its place, share advice about how to pursue a realistic path toward a meaningful and engaging work life.

What did it teach me personally?

Throughout the book, Newport cleverly and neatly introduces four simple rules that he believes will lead us all to successful and fulfilling careers. Of course, many of us believe that rules are made to be broken, but I think these might be some rules you’ll want to follow very closely. Rule 1) Don’t follow your passion Adjacent Possible – the space beyond the current cutting edge in a particular field that contains the big ideas or the possible new combinations of existing ideas Missions are powerful because they focus your energy towards a useful goal. This in-turn maximizes your impact on your world, a crucial factor in loving what you do.

Cal Newport concludes by showing how he applies the four rules to his own professional life. He loves what he does for a living, and state states that staying committed to these ideas will only deepen that love further. And to accomplish your career goals, let his rules guide you: Good career missions are powerful because they focus your energy on a worthwhile goal. Achieving this goal maximizes your positive impact on the world, which is vital for developing a love for what you do. People who feel like their work matters are more satisfied and more resilient in the face of challenging work. Explore the best books for expanding your mind, the best self-help books, the best philosophy books for beginners, books for people who don't enjoy reading, and more great books.

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First control trap. “Control that’s acquired without career capital is not sustainable. If you want to live a free lifestyle with lots of control, going straight for the adventurous part of the lifestyle without first developing a stable means to support your life will lead to failure over the long run. You need to put in the work to develop the skills that will allow you to support the life you want to create. This chapter of So Good They Can’t Ignore You “argues that subscribing to the passion hypothesis can make you less happy.” Thus, you should adopt the craftsman mindset to acquire career capital, as its specific goal is to “be so good they can’t ignore you.” In contrast, following the passion mindset will be ineffective and work against creating the work you love. Unfortunately, many authors and online writers are precariously promoting a version of the passion hypothesis, known as Courage Culture: In his book Drive, Dan Pink discusses how control has resulted in an overall better life in terms of better academic results, physical performance, increased productivity, and greater occupational happiness. Within the workplace, the power of control is embodied in a new philosophy called ROWE: The key is to know when the time is right to become courageous in your career decisions. Chapter 11: Avoiding the Control Traps