So Good They Can’t Ignore You

In this book, Cal Newport contradicts a long-held mindset about following your passion. He believed there is more to loving what you do than just following your passion. To discover this and back up his point, he set out on a quest by spending time with a Venture capitalist, organic farmers, writers, freelancers and other passionate individuals that derive great satisfaction in what they do.  In this quest, Newport identified strategies used and pitfalls avoided by these individuals in developing their career. Passion comes after you have invested in becoming excellent at something valuable not before you attempt something. Aligning your career with your pre-existing passion does not matter. “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” will change your perspective about your passion, career, happiness and developing a remarkable lifestyle.”

Steve Mark likes to say “be so good they can’t ignore you” irrespective of your level in your career. Whether you are just starting up, or you are a professional trying to move to the next level, your target should be to master your craft to the point where people can’t help but notice you. Being passionate about what you do is a great goal but following your passion will not get you there. There are two fundamental problems attached to following your passion:

Firstly, it assumes that people have a pre-existing passion they can identify and use when making career decisions. However, most people end up feeling lost because they have no idea about what they want to do.

Secondly, there is an assumption that says if you like something you will really like doing it for a job. “We don’t have an established evidence that is true,” Newport says. People passionate about their work has little to do with whether their job matches their pre-existing passions.  The bottom line is let your passion follow you in your craft and become someone that can’t be ignored and not to follow your passion. Try something interesting to do, find a skill and career path to pursue and if you are stuck at a crossroad, flip a coin. Make your skill valuable by reaching a high level of expertise. For example, many people look down on a linguistic major for being impractical. You can be very good at a particular type of writing; it will make you stand out. People who are passionate about their work develop the passion over time after building their skill to the point that they became rear and valuable.

To become so good at what you do, you need to master that skill through deliberate practice. Once you have chosen a career path, the next step is to master the skills in it to become irreplaceable. “You don’t have a leverage until you become so good.” Says Newport. Look out for simple and common mistakes that show up every day when working on your skill and don’t stop getting better. Many people build their skill to a stage that they become so comfortable and they stop improving on it. It is a deadly risk. To avoid this, push yourself beyond the comfort zone and continuously practice your skills just the way athletes, musicians or artists would.

Finally, you have to be good at something before big things start to happen. Don’t stop building on your skills. Be so good that you can’t be ignored.

The Big Three – Key Points

Key Point #1:

Do not follow your passion. Let your passion follow you and learn how you can grow your mindset around your passion.

Key Point #2:

To become so good at what you do, you need to master that skill through deliberate practice. You don’t have a leverage until you become so good.

Key Point #3:

Push yourself beyond your comfort zone and continuously practice your skills just the way athletes, musicians or artists do.

One Last Thing

“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.”

― Cal newport, So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love