Name: Vojtech's review of So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
Item: So Good They Can't Ignore You
Rating: 4
Author: Vojtech

Cal Newport

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.

Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

So Good They Can't Ignore You

Cal Newport's clearly-written manifesto flies in the face of conventional wisdom by suggesting that it should be a person's talent and skill - and not necessarily their passion - that determines their career path. Newport, who graduated from Dartmouth College (Phi Beta Kappa) and earned a PhD. from MIT, contends that trying to find what drives us, instead of focusing on areas in which we naturally excel, is ultimately harmful and frustrating to job seekers. The title is a direct quote from comedian Steve Martin who, when once asked why he was successful in his career, immediately replied: "Be so good they can't ignore you" and that's the main basis for Newport's book. Skill and ability trump passion. Inspired by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs' famous Stanford University commencement speech in which Jobs urges idealistic grads to chase their dreams, Newport takes issue with that advice, claiming that not only is thsi advice Pollyannish, but that Jobs himself never followed his own advice. From there, Newport presents compelling scientific and contemporary case study evidence that the key to one's career success is to find out what you do well, where you have built up your 'career capital,' and then to put all of your efforts into that direction.

Rina

Vojtech

Ryan Haber

Good book. A good antidote to a lot of romantic "wisdom" that is really nonsense.

Very motivating and interesting perspectives how to see your own life at it fullest. 

Patrick Ludewig

Keven Wang

I can see how Cal got better as time goes on. Deep work and a works without email still my favorite works of Cal

Arturo Hernández

The overall thesis of this book states that instead of looking to work on something you feel passionate about, instead you become really good at a specific craft and once you provide value doing that then look for how can you create more value on other contexts. It’s interesting, however the last 1/4 of the book is really tedious and feels like the author is telling the same thing over and over. The initial hypothesis is interesting though...

Rito Ghosh

Some solid and practical advice for career building. In an age where everybody 'follows passion' without properly understanding it, Newport provides some opposite insights. This book is worth reading.

The writing style is more of the same, though.

AJSingh

The thesis is well presented and the arguments are very organized.

I focused more on advice like 'little bets', capturing career capital, deliberate practice, having control over your work, and organizing a mission-focused career. I also think we can benefit both from the passion and the craftsman mindset he talks about. My concern was regarding putting these mindsets against each other over using both to have an accomplished career.

Sierra Nguyen

In this book, Cal Newport breaks the common belief that in order to have a fulfilling career, you need to find work that you're passionate about. Many people follow this common advice only to find themselves disappointed when their "dream career" does not bring that they thought it would. Newport explains that passion for your work can be developed when you have gained enough career capital, when you are "so good they can't ignore you." At that point, you have defined your mission and are now able to gain more control over your work. Passion without career capital to back it up is unsustainable.

I had previously skipped this book because I thought I had garnered everything there was to know about it through repeated mentions in podcasts and articles. I was surprised to find out that there is actually still a lot of novel and helpful information in this one. Plus, there is an added benefit of it being motivating whether or not that content is sound. 

Abigail Swallow

Belle

I read this book really quickly because it was both short and good. I've enjoyed Cal's blog for a couple of years, but put of reading any of his books until now. Lucky for me, this worked out well, because I read So Good They Can't Ignore You at just the right time. It gave me a lot to think about in terms of my career path and how I can turn it in the direction I want it to go. It helped me let go of my worry about what my one true passion is, and made me feel more in control of my career. I expect to reread this book many times in the near future.

Daniel Lauzon

Some good ideas. A bit too anecdotal, for my taste.

Ilham Akbarli

Müəllif deyir ki, karyera planlaması üçün “xəyallarının ardınca get” məsləhəti düzgün yol deyil. Bildiyin işlə məşğul olmağı və o işdə ən yaxşısı olmağı tövsiyə edir, bunu da özünün kəşf etdiyi 4 qaydayla açıqlayır. 
Daha sonra kitabda eyni şeyi 2-3 dəfə təkrarlayır. Amma qısaca onu deyir ki, yaxşı mühasibsənsə birdən-birə çayxana açmaq həvəsinə düşmə, sadəcə daha yaxşı (ən yaxşı) mühasib ol ki, səni heç kim iqnor edə bilməsin. Yox, ən yaxşı olmusan və səni hələ də iqnor edirlərsə, deməli səndən xoşları gəlmir də...

Patrick Baumann

Enthält sehr nützliche Ratschläge für eine erfüllende Karriere, die man aber auch knapper hätte darstellen können. Wirkt stellenweise so, als hätte halt ein Buch vollgeschrieben werden müssen. Dennoch super wertvoller Inhalt und daher 4 Sterne.

brendan sudol

“‘Follow your passion’ is bad advice, as the vast majority of people don’t have pre-existing passions waiting to be discovered and matched to a career.”

“Don’t obsess over discovering your true calling. Instead, master rare and valuable skills. Once you build up the career capital that these skills generate, invest it wisely. Use it to acquire control over what you do and how you do it, and to identify and act on a life-changing mission.”

“...we discovered the importance of little bets. To maximize your chances of success, you should deploy small, concrete experiments that return concrete feedback”

Ugis

Many good ideas and arguments why we should focus on becoming great at some unique skill instead of daydreaming about perfect career. The book seems to be overstretched and could be half of the length without loosing much. I extracted several good ideas from it. [reading time: 5h00m]

Kat A

Possibly something to be said about his theory. I'm 50/50 on it. Even though it's a fast, easy read, this book was so incredibly boring.

Manohar

Another succinct and lucid book from Cal Newport.
I found this really informative and it kind of refined my thought process about how to think about careers.

Michelle García

This book sincerely opened my eyes and changed my perspective that I have about work. I feel like now I have a more realistic view of what I do and I'll be able to find joy in it. It's really good, gladly recommend. The only reason why I don't give it 5 stars is because the author tends to repeat himself s bit too much for my liking, but it's not too bad.

Lalaine 

“Don’t obsess over discovering your true calling. Instead, master rare and valuable skills.”

I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed it! It was such a fun read. And it also showed me “Follow your passion” is terrible advice. It may work for some, but not everyone. 
I definitely felt this. And I actually wished I read this book in college. But better now than later. 

I loved all the examples in this book. It makes sense. And it actually made me think clearer of my goals this year. I’m very thankful for Cal Newport for writing this book!! 

Worthy of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ !

Aurooba Ahmed

Read this book again, ever so slowly as inspiration for getting started as a solo dev after having been in a partnership for years. Still loved it. :)

CAL. NEWPORT

T.A.V

I had a misconception that I love my job so much because I chose my passion. But this book gave me so much clarity about how that is not the reason. This clarity has given me a clear and focused direction to set goals for coming years and more importantly it has saved me from giving the wrong advice of “just follow your passion” to others, which I’ve given plenty in the past.

Rather than following my “next” passion, I’m now very laser focused on getting to the cutting edge of my profession and defining a mission. The book was on point, and the concepts were revised so nothing was being forgotten or confused at any point. Just like Deep Work, I loved So Good they can’t Ignore you by Cal. Excited to read his Digital Minimalism now.

Adam

"Follow your passion" has always been the advice given to people that I've run into. If you love what you do, good things will follow. This book goes completely against that, and I love it for it. The alternate route to passion is following what you're good at, and what you can make a living at, and let passion follow. The premise is that passion follows expertise, and as you get better at something, your passion for it will increase.

The anecdotal stories told by people who "followed their passion" leading them to change their lifestyle only to realize it wasn't their passion after all were compelling as well. For example dropping everything to join a Buddhist Monastery only to realize it's the wrong life path. I could see a lot of amazing advice in this that could counteract the prevailing culture of bad advice on this same subject.

Vojtech &
So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

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Vojtech &So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

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So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport