- People are more likely to enjoy something they’re good at.
- The only way to get good at something is to spend time being bad at it. You make mistakes, learn from them, improve, and repeat.
- You must stick with something through the shitty parts and learn from necessary mistakes. […] However, in frustration, you give up on every new thing you try. […] What’s crazy is that this response to the pain makes sense because you—like most people who listen to conventional wisdom—believe that love never has painful moments. The general idea is incorrect […] When you make learning more important than passion, you’re more likely to find something you feel passionately about. You’re more likely to fall in love.
- A new learning curve is steep, but if you don’t endure the initial suffering, you will never be good at anything.
- Cal Newport […] believes that: “Matching your job to a preexisting passion does not matter […] Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.”
- Purposeful work requires curiosity and grit.
- To be a happier person, don’t do what makes you happy. Instead, try your hand (or mind) at something challenging.
Cal Newport […] believes that: “Matching your job to a preexisting passion does not matter […] Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.”
So Good They Can’t Ignore You
How to Do What You Love