Week 4: Cal Newport – So Good They Can’t Ignore You

If ever university students, or any student for that matter were worried about the relevance of the content they are studying on the trajectory of their lives after education, this week’s reading is not one of those pieces of content. Written by Cal Newport, assistant professor in the department of computer science at Georgetown University and experienced author, this week’s reading is only one chapter from an eye-open of a book. The overall book is comprised of advice and analyse of the ability to ‘follow your passion’ with regards to work life. To address such analysis, this particular chapter identifies two different ways that people think about work life: the craftsmanship mindset, focussed on what you (as an individual) can offer to the world; and the passion mindset, focussed on what the world can offer to you. The craftsmanship mindset is comprised of a positive attitude toward work life where an individual should strive to become the best that they can be at a particular task and find success and enjoyment through such process. Whereas the passion mindset lends itself to the idea that we are constantly unhappy and confused at work, wondering where we would like to take our work lives or how they could be improved.

The craftsmanship mindset definitely resonates with me, in the sense that I am a firm believer of the importance of happiness within work life. Especially nowadays, we as humans spend so much of our time at work and involved with work to some extent that I would wish for everybody to spend that time completing tasks that they truly enjoy and are passionate about. Author Cal Newport suggests that it is possible to emulate a craftsmanship mindset in relation to any individual’s current job. The notion that regardless of what you do for work now, you will be able to employ the same sense of determination and passion through a process of emulating a craftsmanship mindset. Whilst I agree with this statement, I think it is even more important to surround work life with areas that naturally inspire and determine you as an individual. Whilst that may be difficult in the case of a large number of individuals and this is partly the reason for Newport’s differing approach, I believe an individuals passion can be employed among their work life to even the smallest degree, which may eventuate to result in that person ‘following their passion’. On a personal level for example, I have become very passionate about music and am slowly trying to incorporate that into areas of my life, including my work within the sales industry.

Upon researching this concept further, a basic article I found seems to address the same approach as identified by Newport. “Until you find the perfect job, you should do your job well for you”.

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