This is a book review for So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport.

I have read Cal Newport’s book on Deep Work and I particularly liked his thoughts in that book. This book was written a while before the Deep Work book but it got me curious to learn more around what his thoughts were to get better at work.

The premise of this book is a discussion on the conflict around skills v/s passion. Should you follow a path that you are passionate about or should you focus on building your skills first and then discover the passion in that work? How many of us are even aware of what we are passionate about in our early work years?

As Cal mentions, should we work right or continue to look for the right work?

Cal argues in favour of building your skills, working right, investing years into them and then discover your mission / passion along the way. I believe he makes a very compelling argument and I do concur with it. I agree when he says that it is not going to be the most romantic thing to tell folks that they have to put their head down, work on opportunities, keep learning along the way and which could take years.

I believe Cal is in no way saying that do not follow your passion. Instead he focuses on the process and the effort that it will take to keep getting better at what you are doing.

Cal writes in a style that is so easy to read and devoid of jargons. He mixes in the stories at the right moment and I particularly loved his emphasis on reiterating the main theme that he wanted to discuss in the chapter and how it relates to the earlier chapters. This repetition is very important in my opinion to drive home the point.

I believe this is a great book for people starting out in their careers to read and discuss with a mentor. I rate the book 5/5.