Core Idea: Don't Follow Your Passion

[@MosesRabuka]

“If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset and instead adopt the craftsman mindset, what can I offer the world?” ~ Cal Newport

[@DarkMuj]

What about the doing turds at work on the clock mindset? That way they are paying you to take a dump. What do you think of that?

[@ibironkesekudo4241]

Well captured sir

[@l.w.paradis2108]

Unless you're an artist.

[@blahbobaba]

Every high school senior on the planet should have to read Cal’s book before graduating. Try, Fail, Iterate, and develop your passion. Take action and GET GOOD. This would have saved me a ton of existential angst while struggling to “find my passion”. Pretty cool that this wisdom is so readily available here on KZbin

[@jibberish00]

I loved, “don’t follow your passion, follow the goal that leads to becoming passionate about your work”. A very important distinction! Also, I love how the craftsman’s perspective is more altruistic, more about offering the world something than it is about self satisfaction.

[@keanuleachay8371]

This is what I got, correct me if I fudged it up: - find a job you have at least some interest in - obsess over certain skills that are valuable and get better at them - this skill acquisition will give u leverage to basically re-engineer or negotiate your way to the ideal life you actually want that u deem is deep

[@harikoa4723]

If what you’re interested in isn’t something you could make a living wage on yet, I guess another way you could play it is to find a flexible/WFH job that is cushy af and cultivate skills outside of work. For instance, I work from home 4 days a week doing SEO for a marketing agency but I’m also running a musical instrument consignment business and learning the ins and outs of sales in my downtime (which is a lot in WFH jobs) and weekends.

[@petecam3949]

This is such great advice. I like what Mike Rowe said “Don’t follow your passion, but bring it with you.” People forget that the people who have “made it” in a career path have worked really hard to get there like Cal said. They spent hours and hours perfecting their skills and getting good at what they do.

[@jinnytrang4857]

Your book solidified my decision to pursue neurosurgery a few years ago and I have not looked back since. Have recommended this book to several others who have seen how far my career has taken me. Thank you, Dr. Newport!

[@everytimesthefirsttime]

I cant even begin te explain how much of a positive drastic turn this video gave me to my perspective on work. This is life changing advice. Thank you so much for this

[@isaacepstein8971]

After watching this video a few days go, I went and read your book. Damn, I wish I would've found this 10 years ago. I've been agonizing over the "perfect" career for so long. Lucikly I've stuck with what I do during that time and have some serious career capital. I'm looking forward to cashing it in for a more "rare and valuable" situation. Thanks, Cal.

[@peterkovic2241]

I have many interests, but not many passions, and I definitely don't have any singular "Passion". Because of this, it's a little scary when someone says follow your passion because I don't really have one. I just have a bunch of different things I"m interested in.

[@agle3324]

Pick one and build on it.

[@mihiershandilya2736]

@@agle3324 Boring

[@proverbalizer]

when you are passionate about something your skill at it grows past you talent, when you have no passion for something your skill stagnates way below the potential of your talent. The best in the world at anything are almost always the most passionate about it. Passion is what allows you to put in the work that will make you stunningly good. You will just be getting warmed up where others are getting burnt out.

[@l.w.paradis2108]

Of course. Who can stay up all night, and work 60 hours a week for weeks on end, for some abstract "mastery?"

[@temimaskoshercooking4595]

The value of that content cannot be overstated. Don't follow your passion, follow your market desired and needed skill sets.

[@l.w.paradis2108]

😂😂😂 Look at what the market wants!

[@UnprofessionalAthlete]

I loved "So Good They can't Ignore You", I first read it when I was approaching the end of university back in 2015. I didnt know what I wanted to do in life and what I learned in that book was to leverage what I already learned and my degree in biochemistry which eventually lead me to go to a technical college to get more comfortable w laboratory skills and even got a coop position and eventually a permanent position at that same place.

[@larissacury7714]

Reading Cal's book has really changed the way I think about things for the better.

[@tomquagliata9381]

“The world doesn’t care if you’re happy in your job.” Boy, is that ever true. Cultivate a skill that’s in demand, and yes - bring your passion with you. You will be rewarded. And then your passion will be capitalizing on this.

[@0berke1]

I might just keep this video as a reminder when I feel down

[@romasliv]

Im recently introduced to cal Newport, I'm loving it, I have this problem of "following passion" as a sanguine, and I'm always changing these passions 😁. I wish I would listen to this before got into college.

[@MegaNas88]

5:40 - 10:50 is gold.

[@Akaki1999]

I loved your book a lot, I'm exactly in the situation you described "fresh out of college, not knowing what to do with life". Have made tons of notes, both from book and this vid/google talk vid, and even made action plan based on all the info, condensing all of it down to 3-4 pages. Will try to implement all that to become "so good they can't ignore me" and use my skills to build up somewhat optimal life. Wish I found your book back in 2017, when I started college, but, well, better late than never (to be fair early-mid 20s isn't "late" but from my perspective it's the whole life so it does seem late lol). Anyways, thanks for all the information it's pretty valuable

[@mihiershandilya2736]

It is important to follow your passion 1st.Just to get it out of system. Otherwise you will keep on thinking about it and feel regretful about not giving it a try. But it is important to fail fast. Give it all and fail fast. Then reflect and pick a good career with rare and valuable skills. Steve Jobs explored a lot.He became a hippie.But when he got that out of his system.He came back and started thinking about the opportunities. I prefer Naval Ravikant advice if you want to be the the best at your niche.If I fail, I will follow Cal's Advice but atleast I wo't have any regret of not trying.

[@Dj-nk7wb]

Follow Steve jobs and Naval Ravikant

[@sanketjain9320]

Quite agree. If you can pinpoint some link which talks about what Naval's views are on exactly this topic, it would be great.

[@entwritescode6281]

what is Naval Ravikant's advice?

[@lesterdelacruz5088]

I think in his definition of passion I can see it helping a group of individuals. In regards engaging with the societal rules of the moment where one attains skillsets that will yield them resources to put themselves in a position in life with more options. The problem in this argument is it assumes that passion is a; 1) a preexisting interest. 2) it is something to find or outside external to attain. Passion has many levels of meaning and this is ignored here. To a neurologist, Huberman sees passion as that small dopamine hit to motivate you to move to a goal you desire. Very base level. To Steve Jobs, its that north star that you push forward for and you navigate your way through the material world to best realize it. Deeper level. With that said, I believe the book So Good They Can't Ignore You misrepresents Steve Jobs passion. It assumes it's in technology. I don't believe that. I believe his real passion is to make a statement in the world. To try to build great things that would validate his time on earth. Personal opinion is, I think this has to do with being orphaned. Don't quote me on this I am not a psychologist, just have an opinion. If he built amazing things, will he then be worthy to people who are biologically supposed to value him from the start by birthing him. Just so happened that the by-product of his attempt to a solution to his pain is of that technologies we use today. In the movie Imitation Game. If you look at Alan Turing, you might say his passion is building a computer. But I don't believe so. I believe his passion was to attempt to find a solution to his loneliness. Judging by the fact that he named his computer the same name as the only friend he lost. His computer is the by-product of this attempt, yet he still died lonely and depressed. Giving the lesson that pursuit of passion doesn't necessarily mean happiness. This brings me back to defining passion again. I think Cal Newports definition of passion though not incorrect is narrow. I can see how a lot of people who may operate in this meaning of passion can certainly benefit from his book. So, I think there is still value in his book for many. On the other hand, if you are young, you may encounter Cal Newport definition of passion and accept that as all there is. That is where I believe this can backfire. It can ruin your opportunity for deeper meanings of the word passion and the world may miss the value you create out of them.

[@CalebM_]

Cal Newport definition of passion is a good guideline but it's not absolute. I agree that passion has many different levels and each person has different definition of passion. We may choose or may not choose to follow this but he does have a point of using what we have to our leverage, since not everyone has a passion that they could immediately follow. And there are people out there who also find meaning on improving oneself to have a better life. It's like a game to them. I know it's selfish but it's in our nature to strive and thrive in a world we currently live in.

[@Ak-in5cu]

You are saying that social validation(steve jobs) and loneliness(alan) is the one of the key here. Could be possible. But what cal newport is saying on behalf of people who don't have exposure to any thing particular thing early in their life they can call follow. Many people have interests in many things but they don't have a particular passion. Many people wants social validation and many people are becoming more and more lonely. But I don't think that's drive you to become great. There are many things you should consider. To become so successful in anything. You have to dedicate time in that and they don't have probably time to think that what other people think of them or they are lonely. Like elon musk also had bad childhood but he was very interested in tech. Many people have early exposure to things which they follow later like music, dance, or technology. So I don't think Elon Musk is behind social validation or coping with his loneliness. Many people said he's companies will not survive. But what he have done is remarkable. You should consider a lot of people and then make conclusion. You can understand life and deeper meaning after making some good money rather than early in the age when you should be making money unless you are destined to become enlightened (like buddha and osho did). Most people end up in drugs when they are poor.

[@lesterdelacruz5088]

I didn’t say his take on this isn’t useful. In fact I said it is useful for a set of individuals. To get them started. I’m saying it is a narrow definition of passion and the danger is assuming it is all there is. As regards, to Elon Musk. I’m not a psychoanalyst so what I’m about to say is an opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt. In a podcast with Joe Rohan he said being lonely is his biggest fear. I interpret that as, again my opinion, he does have a drive to achieve grand milestones because it does validate him and people love him for it. His fear of loneliness translates to continually having something he is providing to stay loved by many. Even today with all his accomplishments, he tweets things that shakes crypto values like a whirlwind. That to me is a desire to stay relevant in the eyes of the public.

[@Ak-in5cu]

@@lesterdelacruz5088 your point is correct. But he also said in an interview that being popular is not very good thing, it helps some way but he cannot go with his children or a coffee shop alone and not get recognised. Clicking selfies and giving autographs becomes irritating after some point of time. I think we both have nice arguments 😅

[@mattegan3439]

I get your point of view. When I first entered the workforce I was hungry, and was completely motivated to prove everyone wrong. I've been written off my entire life by teachers, family, 'friends', and even colleagues. I've worked my butt off to become successful in my industry. But when events are taken out of your hands by no fault of your own, I came to terms that this deep seat of my motivation isn't healthy - and no one actually cares about how well I'm doing. My desire to do my job withered on the vine because it had nothing else to keep me going. If anything a veil was lifted and I could see that this career didn't match what I consider to be my own personal values. Most successful people I know in my industry aren't motivated by the love of the job, it's the social capital that comes with it.

[@otiebrown9999]

Sometimes doing the right thing, in science, can be following your passion.

[@elizabethacosta-rayos6061]

I thought about making my hobby a side gig, but I changed my mind because I didn't want to start to hate my hobby.

[@SanjaWilliams]

This makes so much sense and fully agree. Very realistic advice that many can follow.

[@devinhansa2137]

After reading your book "So Good They Can't Ignore You" I decided to do computer science instead of physics, I had a passion for physics but job opportunities and market value for physics in Sri Lanka are really low, but for computer science, there are so many opportunities and salaries are really high. Before reading the book I followed the Japanese IKIGAI method and speech of Steve Jobs's speech - Love What You Do - Follow Your Passion. But after reading your book I understood that IKIGAI < Cultivate your passion through hard work. But now I am facing another problem; I don't like web development, but there are many opportunities in Sri Lanka for web developers. Do I need to do it, although I don't have any interest in that? Will I be able to be a good web developer by following a craftsman mindset and deliberate practice?

[@thefatemaker2178]

Thats a really good point right there! The craftsman mindset does not apply to everyone, for someone it might work or it won't. I m so confused whether to discover my passion or not. I really hope that Cal replies to you.

[@gauravrayakwar1993]

I feel so let down by this. I would actually discard this as BAD ADVICE. It feels like the writer never worked an actual job before writing this book. And neither did the people in the comments. I have read Deep Work and I feel these two books are written by two completely different writers. As for me, I am of the opinion that the day a man stops following his passion is the day he has died a little inside. The video and the comments stirred up such strong feelings inside me. There are multiple assumptions that just feel outright wrong to me as I progress through the corporate ladder and gain experience. 1. The fact that 'be so good they can't ignore you' assumes that your corporate success is completely tied to your skills and have nothing to do with your dedication, teamwork, communication, likeability and many other soft skills apart from the core hard skill. Becoming so good that your boss will ask you to work however you want simply feels like a talk of wild imagination. So ridiculous. 2. Another one is that all jobs bank on 100% hard skills. This will discount jobs in sales, customer rep, school teachers, law, admin, leading a business and many more I cant remember. He completely ignores the role of strategy. 3. This is another assumption that passionate people will stop working hard once they realise things are getting difficult. How do you think people acquire skills before they are required to? 4. Another assumption is that the pursuit of Wealth is the only meaningful pursuit that deserves respect in society. In reality, some people are perfectly fine pursuing their passion and not earning enough. They know the sacrifice it requires. I understand that following your passion may not be a great advice for everyone. Every person has different circumstances and responsibilities they are tied to and it is not possible to free yourself. But following your passion will always always give you more satisfaction in life. My core question ultimately from Cal and people agreeing to this video is how do you expect me to work on a job and still work on my passion on the side while also juggling various responsibilities of everyday life. Heck I don't even have time to cook my meals after I reach home from my job. The day we start telling kids to stop following their dreams and find a high paying career is the day we have failed as a society.

[@محمد-س9غ5غ]

What if i don't have any passion

[@gauravrayakwar1993]

@@محمد-س9غ5غ u r free to do anything. Consider urself lucky

[@SkwisgaarScampini]

This comment is perfecr

[@maxfogdell]

Great video! Glad I found this channel. Anything that's worth having requires time, effort and persistence.

[@StevenVargas-vg1kw]

Let's converse in person..I know my worth or what i want in life..Definitely..I need resources or your direction...

[@mattegan3439]

Love your work Cal, and a fan of your channel. However, I've read SGTCIY, and the 'don't follow your passion' advice left me totally cold. I've already done exactly as prescribed, a job that I had no intention to head toward, highly specialist, got really good at it, well paid, but I completely loathe it. Where do I think it went wrong? It doesn't fit my values. If your job doesn't match your own personal values, no matter how good you are at it, and how well paid you are, and how much free time it affords you, you'll never have any love or 'passion' toward it.

[@Shingo_Aoi]

I haven't read the book (yet) but I too had the impression that this topic was overlooked.

[@toby5067]

Thanks for the upload. I feel that this has helped me understand the topic better.

[@amberhowieart1178]

This was really interesting and had certainly helped me to reframe things, thank you

[@coachjenswolff]

Love your advice at the end! Will point young clients to this video :)

[@AGBDej]

Bro! I like the way you think. Great to now know you have a KZbin channel

[@loveleenasalia]

Thank you so much Cal!

[@MonikaDaddarwal]

Don't obsess over getting the right job. 1. Rare and valuable skills, skill acquisition.[Deliberate practice] 2. Use as leverage. Repeat. Have an image of your ideal lifestyle and work backwards from there.

[@briantomory8399]

I would have to disagree. I'm 48 now and have worked in education most of my life. Skills, I would argue, are usually rooted in interest. It's interest usually that leads to skills in the first place. Why should teenagers, for example, sign up for sports, activities, or classes that they have absolutely no interest in? What's in demand of course matters, but if a young adult has absolutely no interest (and therefore likely mediocre skills) in that area, they are likely to become not only bored, but bitter and frustrated. It's complicated-- everyone has different life and work experiences. From my experience and from talking to lots of people about their careers, a blend of passion and practicality is what works best-- not all one way or the other. No magic, one size fits all formula applies for all people. I would advise those half my age to find a balance in their work. I would say 1) first find out what skills and interests you have 2) try to match those with the needs/demands of the world.

[@KevinTPLim]

Agreed! The ikigai Venn diagram is a good representation of that. The sweet spot in the centre doesn’t always exist, but I think even if one’s skills/interests can’t be aligned with what’s in demand, they’re still worth pursuing as a serious hobby. Not just for fun and recreation but because it’s easiest to learn and master what you enjoy, and ultimately that teaches you how to learn, so you can master what you don’t enjoy as much (which might be what’s in demand at your job)

[@alwinsanthosh6878]

I think what he meant is that you don't need to "follow your passion" as in pick up something drawn towards.There's a difference between that and passion.You're still not wrong, since you still need a bit of interest to get started, but i think a little modification in Cal's words would've helped him get his point across better.

[@javokhireakhmedov]

Thank you Cal Newport for sharing this video and clearing up my mind

[@jorgesanabria6484]

Deep!!

[@eugeniosaccon4826]

Love this guy

[@naq8405]

How do we choose which skill(s) to hone?

[@kattekongen]

Keep making great content! It is super helpful for a student like me!

[@larrymorrison904]

Passion follows mastery, not the other way around.

[@SkwisgaarScampini]

That’s just so illogical…getting really good at something requires a passion for it

[@M-su4mh]

I think this is one of the biggest reasons why my generation (Gen Z) is prematurely nihilistic and despairing. We're told all the time throughout elementary, middle school, and high school to "follow your passion/dreams and you'll never work a day in your life" when that's just not realistic at all. Thankfully I have been blessed by great mentors as well as my grandpa to give me the wisdom and knowledge to be resilient and disciplined and to just trust the process of life. I'm currently in IT after serving 4.5 years active duty air force doing RF/SATCOM and going to school for cloud computing and I can definitely say it is a grind that requires a lot of discipline and work and there's nothing sexy about it but it's making me a more valuable employee to my company. I also have developed an even bigger interest in it the more I have developed and honed my skills. There's something special about being the go-to guy when shit hits the fan and you're one of the few people who knows how to fix the issue.

[@aldenho2561]

What if you don't know what you want your life to look like? I for one am stuck between NYC skyscraper city life or the phoenix, AZ sunny life with a nice house and backyard.

[@backflipnuslip]

Life Saver!

[@dovganjuk]

heyheyhey this was eye opening, although an intimation that I knew it already to hell with Disney princesses

[@abraxaseyes7]

Quantifying your passion is tricky. There's a research paper about it. I get paid minimum for something I love most will think it's all it's worth.

[@TheHolisticBabe]

Great tips

[@jorgesanabria6484]

Grit by Angela duckworth has the same core message

[@charleshurstreinvention3959]

Yeah that follow your passion motivational is feel good but not good advice. Follow your passion. That's what the gurus say. I'm telling my own subscribers that this is bad advice. I have seen many living in their mid forties with no skills, no resources and no future because they did follow this mantra. Swell Charles, give up on your dreams you say? No. I'm saying to be smart about it. You don't just pick a job that you would do for free and that is usually the arts. Like Stephen King--he could have retired in the 1980s but still writes--because he would write anyway. But most artists don't make the big time. So if you have this burning passion that is in the small percentage of making it, by all means do that---on the side. But keep a day job and that job can be a cousin of what you would do for free. For example, maybe you are an oil paint artist at heart. But your day job is a graphic designer. Or you are that actor. You day job is teaching high school drama--or advance to teach college drama. See? You do the next best thing to "your passion" that pays the bills decently. That's how you negotiate the thing you would do for free where there is risk vs quitting your day job to leap off the cliff not knowing if the water is below. Hope this helps someone---Charles

[@edwinbrace4681]

Following your passion is solid advice, look where it got Bill Gates, Michael Phelps , Gordon Ramsay etc These are people who genuinely did what they loved with no incentive for doing it. It just so happens that not too many people have unwavering passion or if they do they are discouraged by society or not given the right guidance and support so they never follow through. Passion is solid advice because I know " ordinary " people it has served well.

[@charleshurstreinvention3959]

@@edwinbrace4681 Exactly--keep being great---Charles

[@krox477]

​@@edwinbrace4681bill gates was privileged and intelligent

[@OwlsUniqueSounds]

​@@edwinbrace4681 Look at all the successful actors, athletes and youtubers, if any of them followed this advice of "don't follow your passion" we wouldn't have them. I think if someone follows their passion they just need to be practical about it. If its a passion or not, just focus on being the best at it and don't give it up.

[@akashmishra3737]

Passion from lifestyle 🤠

[@DannyBoy443]

Soo, what if someone is unemployed and has been for years? How do they focus and build on a job when they don't have one?

[@boymiyagi]

That intro got me thinking about stranger things

[@mihiershandilya2736]

This is painful to hear.Naval Ravikant would have said the opposite i.e. follow your curiosity. If you learn front end then you can become full stack developer. This is talent stacking by Scott adams. The ultimate goal should be work should feel like play.When it's a play you don't burn out.But when you keep doing things ieven if you start to find them boring then this leads to burn out.

[@jinpoloperez6682]

Follow the goal of ending up passionate about your work.

[@smoothacceleration437]

The big missing piece in this advice is office politics. The video doesn't question another assumption: that it's skill that drives a career. Nothing could be further from the truth. Politics at a job are a much greater driving force. And that's a problem which needs to be addressed if one is to answer the question of getting to have a career you love...

[@liambeatz3158]

Somebody has to articulate the difference here between Robert Greene’s argument in Mastery that all of the masters he profiled in the book had a love of the subject that bordered on the religious. Then Cal has this counter argument that pre existing passions don’t mean anything when it comes to job satisfaction. For the love of god somebody clarify this topic please.

[@CornelisGerard]

I haven't read his books so I could be completely wrong but Cal is probably basing his opinions on research that shows what works for the 75 - 85% of the population that can be happy leading a "normal" life. Some people are so consumed and driven by their passions they can't NOT dedicate themselves to it. This advice might work for most people. But are you like most people?

[@JackJones-i1j]

You can be good at something, but what if you hate that job or don't have desire to stay there ????

[@heldivapanjaitan947]

Imagine how your life could be

[@StevenVargas-vg1kw]

I got tape from all that

[@pagemonroe9170]

😀😀😁😁😍😍👍👍Shop Now

[@littleindian99]

If you get "so good they can't ignore you" how do you avoid the trap that the company or managment wants to simply dump work on your because you are a high producer? This almost enivitably happens to all high producers and you have to learn to delegate is the answer. But what are you gaining our of this?

[@kasratrading22]

cal , what made you chose this starting noise man its like bam bam bam bamb abam bammmm its your face

[@ObserverAndObserved]

So fucking good!!

[@edwinbrace4681]

I disagree with Cal's advice, he conveniently writes about Steve jobs and illustrates how Steve Jobs did not necessarily have a passion for computers early on but he skips the part where Steve Wozniak was extremely passionate about computers and hardware design that he ultimately made it his life mission to make them, money not being an incentive. Passion is extremely important that is why people such as Michael Phelps , Michael Jackson etc exist, they were not born " talented " they were passionate about what they did and that passion pushed them to be the very best they can be.

[@RonniiV]

He is giving advice that can work for the majority of people. How to work towards a deeper life with passion without dropping everything and risking so much. You are picking the people who’s passions that led them to success, anecdotally I can tell you that they do not even make 0.0001% of the people in this world. For others, there is a transition plan which Cal is proposing.

[@kaustubhpoal4156]

Agree about the Wozniak part, but then you see, why was he passionate about computers in the first place? He was probably exposed to them at an early age, and started developing a liking towards it while working with the parts (many don't), which later turned into passion.Also he gave examples of people who actually follow the "FOLLOW THE PASSION" advice and how the majority of those end up, in the start of the video itself. So if you extend your logic a bit, you are actually agreeing with Cal, He specifically said 9/10 people who are passionate about their work, reached that place NOT by following passion, but ended up passionately loving that work.Yes, there is always the 1/10 exception (or maybe even 1/100) that might fit into the Wozniak scenario. He was talking about the majority of the people who ended up in successful and fulfilling careers. Rule not exceptions. This is my understanding.

[@cholakicha]

7:00

[@billyb6001]

It's always music with 22 year olds

[@SkwisgaarScampini]

Not real music though Lmao, “rappers”

[@krox477]

9:33 😂😂

[@lexlinkroy]

Jokes on you I dont hav passion.

[@colourmequaint9690]

I don't think things are this black and white and there is not only one correct way.

[@katielowen]

Core idea: Live a life of regret for never following your passion / dreams

[@nevencuk]

This video is so valuable. Thank you Cal!

[@SkwisgaarScampini]

I don’t know dude, all my favorite musicians were musicians their whole life…so in my opinion, not sure if this is true if you really have a hardcore passion