Book Notes: Be So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

Cal Newport, in his book, Be So Good They Can't Ignore You, asserts that following our passion to find a dream job and be happy is elusive. 

Instead of searching for our passion, he suggests that we should focus on building up our capability (he calls it "career capital") by capitalising on every opportunity. 

Now how should we distinguish the true opportunities? Firstly, we should pursue that that will give us more control, more control over time and over our lives. Secondly, look for pursue that that people are willing to pay us money for.

In the end, we are taking many small bets on our lives and hopefully, the big break will come. 

Mike Rowe also shared his experiences on why he think the happiest people are not the one who followed their passions.

Don't Have To Follow Your Passion?

MIke Rowe from Dirty Jobs spoke about two things in essence.

#1 What we, or the society in general,think is correct, may not necessary be correct.

Sheep castration. Do it the "right" way, the sheep limps in pain for a couple of weeks before the procedure completes. Do it the "wrong" way, sheep prances around after a couple of minutes. Totally ironical.

He reminds us not to be too fixated on things. Sometimes, we worry too much about society norms, the rules, the laws that we lose our own inner voice, our own mind. Need to do some reflection on this.

#2 People with the dirty jobs are some of the most happy people

On Dirty Jobs, a pig farmer “smells like hell, but God bless him, he’s making a great living”. "Roadkill picker-uppers whistle while they work. I swear to God — I did it with them." People with dirty jobs are some of the happiest people on earth. This is a revelation for me. I was told to find my passion, follow it and make a living out of it. This is the only way to be happy. So there can be another way. 

Is it because dirty jobs are typically not so complex (but tedious of course)? Is it because people doing dirty jobs do not have to think so hard? Is it because life is more straightforward because the objectives are clearer? Is it because they don't have office politics to deal with? Can someone enlighten me on this?