This is a fantastic read; perhaps the kind of book an engineer would write. Cal is direct in almost all his points and even while substantiating his points, he doesn't belabor the point. It is very much in stark contrast to the other books I have read from authors such as "Talent Is Overrated", "Grit", and "Outliers."

Anyone who is interested in learning about how people achieve success, should definitely read it. I think, human's have a natural fascination for a good story due to which given a choice between truth and a good story, they inevitably choose the "good story." Just like what happened in the case of "Pi," fiction (especially inspirational fiction) makes a much better selling material than plain old truth.

The book challenges the fundamental assumption that "following one's passion" yields success. Perhaps it is a classic case of confusing between cause and effect. Cal goes on to build his own theory of success. It is quite interesting and definitely worth a read. Unfortunately, as in most cases the answer is rather "complex" and definitely not "formulaic." However, I prefer his formulation to Steve Job's formulation - "follow your passion." As the saying goes - it is better to be vaguely right and than be precisely wrong! ( )

I liked his other books MUCH better. This one could have been condensed into a lengthy paper. There was far too much repetition, end of chapter summaries, etc. that seemed almost like filler to make a full length book. Unlike his college advice books, Newport relied very heavily on the anecdotes from the examples to make his case. In his second college advice book he interviewed students(45 listed in acknowledgements) and then distilled his advice, not padding it with anecdotes and summaries.

Still, his main points are well taken and worth sharing, especially to college students and early professionals. I do wonder if he is leaving out a broader audience. His contention that one has to work in a field and develop some expertise before he/she can truly enjoy the work would extend to many professions and trades that require many different levels of education and training. However, Newport relies almost exclusively (except for musicians) on examples that require graduate work.

I also think his book is weaker because he is still pretty early on in his own career. ( )

I like Cal Newport a lot and think his thesis here is great, but the book as a whole isn’t his best. This book is a classic example of a long-form article padded into a 200 page book. I also would have liked examples of applying his thesis to more typical jobs and not just Tim Ferris-type success stories. TL:DR for this book—(1) instead of following your passion, work hard at the mundane tasks of your job until you get good enough to be indispensable; (2) leverage that “career capital” into more control and autonomy; (3) use that control and autonomy to follow your passion. ( )

It was a decent book and I especially liked the ideas he put forth that I have read in other books such as

Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck - Mark Manson
Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell

However.. I find he got tautological at some points, which I suppose is the point, as he is desperately getting these points across to you. His style is reminiscent of someone who has all this newly acquired knowledge and just spilling it out so that you can absorb it and benefit from it. The man has nothing but good intentions, and anecdotally I have seen and agree with all of his points that he has made.

My gripes that removed a star were only two things

- His methlike writing style, devoid of anything but animatedly getting his point across (I mean it's no Vonnegut, but I'm reading for style as well... but thats only a quarter of a star at most)
- A lack of clear instructions on how to apply the rules to your life.

For the second point, I get it, I completely understand. If you truly desire to improve your career in life, then yes you should put the work into moulding this framework into your life, and developing the skills to be able to apply it and recognize the traps. At the same time however... a little direction would be nice. Come on man.

Definitely read it if you are concerned about your future career or your job life.

Don't read it if you're happy with what you're doing. ( )

Good book with solid ideas but if you've already read 4-5 of his blog posts on the topic, you probably don't need to read this book, which just gives more examples of people whose careers exemplify his ideas and doesn't add much more detail. I think it's because the basic idea is fairly simple (and elegant, imo) and probably doesn't require a full book. This book is also padded out by an introduction summary and concluding summary in every single chapter plus a totally unnecessary glossary in the back, so it really felt like the publisher needed to fill a certain amount of pages in order to pitch this as a full-length book. The language also struck me as fairly simple, but clear and concise, and I suspect Cal Newport partly intended it to be a breezy read that is accessible to young people, who probably need to hear this message the most.

Notes while reading:
- passion is overrated & possibly dangerous
- few people are born with innate passion (in fact, probably better just to assume no such thing as innate passion)
- passion is developed over time (the more you do something & gain mastery of it, the more likely you'll enjoy it --> this was also talked about in the Tiger Mom book; her kid only enjoyed violin once they gained competency in it & could perform)
- entering into any career has you starting at the bottom, doing the boring crappy stuff that are given to interns & entry-level staff, so people get too disillusioned thinking the job is not their passion after all
- this is a terrible way to think --> it's asking what your job can offer you (kind of entitled mindset, no one owes you an amazing job), whereas it's better to ask what you can offer your job/the world

- fulfilling, meaningful jobs aren't about the job itself but the amount of autonomy, creativity, and impact it gives you, which you only get when you've worked your way up, developed a rare and sought after set of skills, which you can leverage for better a working situation
- so your skills & experiences are your "career capital" that you leverage

- deliberate practice builds up skills for career capital
- deliberate practice is repetitive, often tedious drilling of one specific skill or aspect of a skill in order to improve your mastery of it
- you can play guitar everyday for 10 years & barely improve your skill, so amount of time spent is not necessarily deliberate practice, how and what you practice matters immensely
- once you've reached a certain level of competence at your job, it's hard to do deliberate practice on the job b/c it requires you to continuously challenge yourself & reach higher ground incrementally, which most jobs don't offer cuz mostly you do the same things day in & day out

- most people who have fulfilling, meaningful careers didn't set out with that specific job/career as a goal... they took a more meandering path where they continued to development the rare & valuable skills they needed, which opened more doors for them and gave them better options, and eventually they took the most appealing option (which generally is work that is creative and meaningful to them, which they have more control over)
- one harmful idea we see a lot nowadays is a person coming up with a "mission" for their life/career (I also see the word "purpose" used a lot in reference to this) and then making a big move towards it, like quitting their stable cubicle job to start a business, etc., but they do this before they've gained the skills necessary for this move to be successful
- the book gives a few examples of the above, and none of those people were successful in their "mission"
- your mission is also likely something you'll discover along the way of developing your skills b/c the more knowledge & experience you have in one field, the more you'll be able to see interesting avenues in that field that you could explore
- so no need to rush to figure out what your "ultimate purpose" in life is! - just choose paths that let you develop your skills and you'll get there eventually ( )