I started reading So Good They Can't Ignore You as a part of my Miracle Morning routine and would like to share my review of the book. When this blog would be released, I would have completed a good 3 months of practising the Miracle Morning and I have so far not missed a day. In case you missed my review of the Miracle Morning book, you can find it here.
Book Summary
This book has one of the most impactful openings that will set the reader to sit up and take note. The introduction to book starts of with the line " 'Follow your passion' is dangerous advice" which sets up the tone of the book, which defies and rejects the popular theory of "Follow your passion". It makes people want to read more and understand more.
The book is divided into 4 key sections which the writer refers to as Rules but I would think they are principles more than rules. The 4 Rules are as follows:
Don't follow your Passion
Be so good they can't ignore you (importance of Skill)
Turn down a promotion (importance of Control)
Think small, act big (importance of Mission)
Each rule is described in great detail.
The first rule cites is self explanatory with various examples of people being unsuccessful while following their passion and outlines the reasons why it happens. It also asks people to instead on creating the work that they love. It also conveys a powerful message that most people aren't born with pre-existing passion.
The second rule encourages people to develop rare and valuable skills and constantly honing them with deliberate practice with a craftsman's mindset. The author has coined a term "career capital" which I interpret as a combination of gaining experience and expertise.
The third rule focusses on control and the traps that can people can fall into. If a person's goal is to love what he/she does, then the first step would be to acquire career capital and invest this capital in traits that define great work with control being the most important goals. In my understanding, control could be of various types ranging from control over time, control over how things get done etc or all of them put together. A big part of the rule in the book covers the different control traps people fall into and how to manage these.
The fourth rule of the book talks about mission and its importance and advises to use our career capital to acquire it. We still need to work to make our missions succeed. The writer proposed some methods by which we can "transform our mission from a compelling idea into a compelling career".
Each of the rules of this book is substantiated with several real life examples which keeps the readers engaged.
The book concludes with Cal Newport talking about how he implemented all these rules in his own life, which I think was very interesting and the readers can draw a lot from how he does it into their own lives.
Takeaways
I had created an Instagram post where I had written about some of my simple takeaways from the book. I also discovered Cal Newport's blog in the process of reading this book and have read some random articles from it.
Writing style and Ease of Reading
The book has been written in a very simple and easy to understand language. However, I found that I had to read the rules 3 and 4, but mostly rule 3 a couple of times to understand it better. I did not find it as straightforward as the other rules. It is not really a very big book and can be read quite quickly. I personally found it quite engaging and profound, considering I am not really sure what I am very passionate about.
Conclusion
This book would be very beneficial especially to those starting out on their career. However, I think it is still useful even for people who have been working for years as it can serve as a guide to them on how to shape their careers from this point onwards.
In conclusion, I can say, after reading this book I am more conscious of my deliberate practice and have also identified some areas where I need to do more in order to gain career capital. I would definitely have to revisit this book again as I carve out my career.
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