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Book Cover for: So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love, Cal Newport

So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Cal Newport

Reader Score

84%

84% of readers

recommend this book

Bronze Medal Winner:Axiom Business Book Awards -Career (2013)
In this book with unique perspective, professor Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice, and sets out to discover the reality of how people end up loving their careers.

A focus on passion over skill can be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping. Spending time with professionals who admit to deriving great satisfaction from their work, Newport uncovers the strategies they use and the pitfalls they avoid in developing their compelling careers.

Cal reveals 4 Rules for falling in love with your job:

#1: Don't follow your passion
#2: Be so good they can't ignore you
#3: Turn down a promotion
#4: Think small, act big

Cal Newport's manifesto is mandatory reading for anyone fretting about what to do with their life, or frustrated by their current job situation. So Good They Can't Ignore You 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.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
  • Publish Date: Sep 18th, 2012
  • Pages: 304
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.30in - 5.80in - 1.10in - 0.90lb
  • EAN: 9781455509126
  • Categories: Careers - Job Hunting

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About the Author

Cal Newport, Ph.D., lives in Washington, D.C., where he is a writer and an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University. He also runs the popular website Study Hacks: Decoding Patterns of Success. Deep Work is his fifth book.

More books by Cal Newport

Book Cover for: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get Into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out), Cal Newport
Book Cover for: How to Win at College: Simple Rules for Success from Star Students, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: Slow Productivity (Slow Productivity Spanish Edition): El Arte Secreto de la Productividad Sin Estrés, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: Hazlo Tan Bien Que No Puedan Ignorarte: Las Cuatro Reglas Para El Éxito Profesional / So Good They Can't Ignore You, Cal Newport
Book Cover for: Tu Planificador de Horarios (the Time-Block Planner Spanish Edition), Cal Newport
Book Cover for: Un Mundo Sin E-mail (a World Without E-Mail, Spanish Edition): Reimaginar El Trabajo En Una Época Con Exceso de Comunicación, Cal Newport

Praise for this book

"Stop worrying about what you feel like doing (and what the world owes you) and instead, start creating something meaningful and then give it to the world. Cal really delivers with this one."

--Seth Godin, author, Linchpin

"Entrepreneurial professionals must develop a competitive advantage by building valuable skills. This book offers advice based on research and reality--not meaningless platitudes-- on how to invest in yourself in order to stand out from the crowd. An important guide to starting up a remarkable career."

--Reid Hoffman, co-founder & chairman of LinkedIn and co-author of the bestselling The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

"Do what you love and the money will follow' sounds like great advice -- until it's time to get a job and disillusionment quickly sets in. Cal Newport ably demonstrates how the quest for 'passion' can corrode job satisfaction. If all he accomplished with this book was to turn conventional wisdom on its head, that would be interesting enough. But he goes further -- offering advice and examples that will help you bypass the disillusionment and get right to work building skills that matter."

--Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind

"This book changed my mind. It has moved me from 'find your passion, so that you can be useful' to 'be useful so that you can find your passion.' That is a big flip, but it's more honest, and that is why I am giving each of my three young adult children a copy of this unorthodox guide."

--Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick, WIRED magazine

"First book in years I read twice, to make sure I got it. Brilliant counter-intuitive career insights. Powerful new ideas that have already changed the way I think of my own career, and the advice I give others."

--Derek Sivers, founder, CD Baby

"Written in an optimistic and accessible tone, with clear logic and no-nonsense advice, this work is useful reading for anyone new to the job market and striving to find a path or for those who have been struggling to find meaning in their current careers."

--Publishers Weekly