I guess most Gen Z have heard about this famous quote
“Follow your passion”
However, this mindset can be dangerous to our career. It has stressed me out for a long period. I was thinking about how to find my purpose or what is the meaning of my career was. Luckily, I found this book So good they can’t ignore you.
In the book, the author mentions that the “follow your passion” mindset is dangerous and I will show you this comparison shows why it’s so dangerous to follow passion and meaning:
Two ways of thinking about your career #
| Area | Passion Mindset | Craftsman mindset |
|---|---|---|
| Question | “What do I love?” | “What can I become really good at ?” |
| Focus | Emotion, Hobby | Skill and values |
| Facing Difficulties | “This might not be my passion” | “I need to practice more” |
| Career | Finding a perfect job | Building a rare and valuable skill |
| Result | Wait for a perfect job I love | Use my valuable skill and build a good career |
In one example, the author introduces
Scott story #
Cal newport gives an example of an lawyer name Scott. He has a great job and a good relationship with his colleagues. He loves his office and even his boss. However, when he discovered the passion mindset, he struggled to find out what his perfect job looked like and he’s stressed out to find what his true passion is. After that, he lived a miserable life while doing the job he used to love.
The craftsman mindset feels better.
Obviously, the craftsman mindset gives you more control over your career. You are in control what your career looks like and don’t wait for any fairy tale happens. In the book “So good they can’t ignore you”, the craftsman mindset is one of 4 criteria will help leverage your skills and truly giving you a way to navigate the professional world. I hope this will inspire you to continue improving the skills you think are rare and valuable and avoid the passion mindset I used to face and ready to adapt the Craftsman mindset.