So Good They Can't Ignore You

Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

By: Cal Newport

Narrated by: Dave Mallow

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2012 Cal Newport (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Great perspectives on how to approach career goals

Author offers contrarian views on the typical "Follow your Passion!"..."Find your Why!" style of career advice of the 00's motivation gurus (except Tony Robbins that guy's awesome) and instead offers compelling reasons why developing and mastering unique skills over time is the key to "finding your passion". Very similar to what Tom B. from Impact Theory says.

Too much corroboration up front

The book was back-loaded with useful substance. It gets more substantive as you read on. I would have preferred it to be front-loaded. In other words, I would have preferred to find the formal advice all up front in an organized, complete structure. Followed by all the examples. Fortunately, the final third or so of the book presents the book's advice in a more condensed way than the first two thirds or so, which made me glad to have listened to the whole thing.

The big idea this book teaches us that if you want to get noticed, then you should become great at whatever skill/career you want to get noticed in. It goes on to teach a bunch of corollaries or sub-points to that same basic point. It follows each iteration of this pattern with a bunch of stories that corroborate its conclusion. Then, it restates its conclusion.

The simplest example of this would be a story that goes as follows:

"If you want to get noticed in acting, then you should become great at acting. Great actors enjoy lots of success. Tom worked really hard at becoming a great actor, focusing on *all* the elements of great acting, not just some of them. Then Tom got a yellow Lamborghini. Therefore, if you want to get noticed in acting, then you should become great at acting, like Tom."

Must read for anyone

Does an excellent job at showing a proven way to address one's career regardless of the industry or level.

Short, useful

It was clear, short, and provided very useable and immediate action points. You walk away with tid bits to focus on.

Just the book will change your life

This book will show you why follow your passion is maybe the biggest mistake you can make in your life.

Well written manifesto

The premise of the book is that the "find your passion" movement is fallacy. It's well written and researched. The examples are relevant and the author has clearly thought through his argument. I enjoyed the book. Great ideas about deliberate practice and career capital that I need to think about more. Highly recommended.

Solid.

Plenty of meat in this book. Newport backs up his thinking with plenty of data. And there's tons of great advice throughout. I will be recommending.

I liked it.

I think; the author is right. He did a very good job making his point, and I liked his explanations.

Not what i thought...

The title of this book was a bit deceitful to me, it arrives at the same conclusions I did, based on the title but from a different perspective, This book is great, it helped reinforce my core beliefs while expanding my horizon and perspective on the topic.

wonderful insights

loved the insights on the contrary belief of passion.it dissects the true ways of life unfolding step by step rather than one fine day passion comes out alive