“Why do some people enjoy their work while so many other people don’t? Here’s the CliffsNotes summary of the social science research in this area: There are many complex reasons for workplace satisfaction, but the reductive notion of matching your job to a pre-existing passion is not among them.”
Cal Newport, So Good They Can’t Ignore You (Page 14)
“Don’t follow your passion; rather, let it follow you in your quest to become, in the words of my favorite Steve Martin quote, ‘so good that they can’t ignore you.'”
Cal Newport, So Good They Can’t Ignore You (Page xx)
So Good They Can’t Ignore You [Book]
Book Overview: In this eye-opening account, Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that “follow your passion” is good advice. Not only is the cliché flawed-preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work—but it can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping. After making his case against passion, Newport sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving what they do. 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. Matching your job to a preexisting passion does not matter, he reveals. 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.
Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
29 Must-Read Seth Godin Quotes from The Practice For All Creators
Excerpt: If you’re a creator of any kind (current or future) this list of quotes from The Practice should be required reading—they’re THAT good.
Read More »29 Must-Read Seth Godin Quotes from The Practice For All Creators
“Who wants to do difficult work that doesn’t fulfill us? Who wants to commit to a journey before we know it’s what we were meant to do? The trap is this: only after we do the difficult work does it become our calling. Only after we trust the process does it become our passion. ‘Do what you love’ is for amateurs. ‘Love what you do’ is the mantra for professionals.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 22)
“Effort can be its own reward if you let it.”
Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 164) (Read Matt’s Blog On This Quote)
“Two things come to mind that are euphoric for me. One is the universal euphoric: sex, that period of time when you are at an absolute peak of sexual feeling. The other is when I create something that moves me. When I am the audience to my own creation and I’m moved. If it were a drug and I could buy it, I’d spend all my money on it.”
Paul Simon, via Sunbeams (Page 50)
“A modern stoic knows that the surest way to discipline passion is to discipline time: decide what you want or ought to do during the day, then always do it at exactly the same moment every day, and passion will give you no trouble.”
W. H. Auden, via Daily Rituals (Page 3)
Francois de La Rouchefoucauld Quote on Absence and How It’s The Ultimate Relationship Test
“Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.”
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Beyond the Quote (Day 411)
Without absence it’s hard to tell what’s a priority and what’s not. Because if there’s no absence, then there’s immersion and if we’re immersed in something, then that’s all we know—we have nothing to contrast it against. If we were only ever taught math, how might we know if we liked another subject better? If we only ever spent time with certain people, how could we know what it would be like to spend time with others? Contrast is what provides us with the opportunity to compare. Without it, we have only the option we have.
Read More »Francois de La Rouchefoucauld Quote on Absence and How It’s The Ultimate Relationship TestJohann Wolfgang von Goethe Quote on Making Committed Decisions and How “Luke Warm” Isn’t Good Enough
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness… the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred… boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sunbeams (Page 29)
Beyond the Quote (Day 401)
The problem with staying in an uncommitted place is that it splits your mental resources. One avenue focuses on opportunity while the other focuses on risks. One avenue on possibility while the other focuses on failure. One focuses on reasons for “yes” while the other focuses on reasons for “no.” This is no way to succeed—in anything. It’s a “luke-warm” approach to achieving goals when what’s needed is heat—passion, boldness, enthusiasm! What’s needed is a full commitment of mental resources.
Read More »Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quote on Making Committed Decisions and How “Luke Warm” Isn’t Good Enough37 Stunning Alicia Keys Quotes from More Myself on Living Authentically
Excerpt: Written in a very warm, vulnerable, and honest way—these Alicia Keys quotes from More Myself are simply stunning and are well worth the read.
Read More »37 Stunning Alicia Keys Quotes from More Myself on Living Authentically
“We like what we choose. Not the other way around. It feels safer to say that we’re born with talents and gifts, that we have a true calling, that we’re looking for what connects with our passion. That’s not useful (because it means you spend a lot of time shopping around) but it’s also not true. New research confirms that random choices lead to preferences, and then it follows that preferences lead to habits and habits lead us to become the person we somehow decide we were born to be. If you had grown up somewhere else or some time else, there’s little doubt that you’d prefer something else. The things we think we need are simply the things we’re used to. And if you like what you like simply because you have a pattern, that means that you might be able to like something else if you could develop new patterns. In short: If we commit to loving what we do, we’re more likely to find engagement and satisfaction. And if what we do changes, we can choose to love that too.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“RBG has never been one to shrink from a challenge. People who think she is hanging on to this world by a thread underestimate her. RBG’s main concession to hitting her late seventies was to give up waterskiing.”
Irin Carmon, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Without hoops, I would not understand how to create or write, I would not understand human nature, nor would I know how to lead. The game, in essence, taught me the art of storytelling. Without it, I would not have an Emmy, I would not have an Oscar, I would not have creative dreams and visions still to unfold. Yeah, basketball took me everywhere. Now, I’m taking the game everywhere.”
Kobe Bryant, Mamba Mentality (Page 201)
“The OG greats won’t hang around you if you don’t display the same passion as they do. They won’t share their time and memories with you if you don’t display the same effort and drive for excellence that they did. Even though I was only 17 when I became a Laker, I felt like a member of the family from day one. I think I was accepted so quickly because everyone saw how hard I worked, saw how badly I wanted to fulfill my destiny and return L.A. to its championship ways.”
Kobe Bryant, Mamba Mentality (Page 91)
“Following your bliss is a recipe for paralysis if you don’t know what you are passionate about. A better motto for most youth is “master something, anything”. Through mastery of one thing, you can drift towards extensions of that mastery that bring you more joy, and eventually discover where your bliss is.”
Kevin Kelly, Blog
“Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.”
Kevin Kelly, Blog
Buddha Quote on Life and Understanding The Difference Between “I Like You” and “I Love You.”
“When you like a flower, you just pluck it. But, when you love a flower, you water it daily. One who understands this, understands life.”
Buddha
Beyond the Quote (202/365)
“Liking” is superficial. “Loving” is deep. “Liking” is occasional and when it’s convenient. “Loving” is regular and prioritized. “Liking” keeps you the same. “Loving” helps you grow. One who understands the difference between “liking” and “loving” in life understands the difference between “existing” and “living” in life.
Read More »Buddha Quote on Life and Understanding The Difference Between “I Like You” and “I Love You.”