Cal Newport: "Follow Your Passion" Is Bad Advice
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2015
- About this presentation
American culture is obsessed with the idea that we need to “find our passion” in order to be happy and successful. But there’s a problem: “It’s astonishingly bad piece of advice,” says best-selling author Cal Newport. We have no pre-existing passion. Instead, passion is found by first building a rare and valuable talent and using it to take control of your career path. In other words, be so good and work so hard that no one can ignore you.
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About Cal Newport
Cal Newport is an author and a professor computer science at Georgetown University. His writing focuses on unconventional advice for life in school and after graduation. His most recent book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You, argues that “follow your passion” is bad advice. Newport’s writing and ideas regularly appear in major publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Post, and Inc. Magazine.
About 99U
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What people don't realize is that passion is an emotion and emotions change all the time. If your passion isn't working out for you, its time to change the passion. No need to water a dead plant. Remember, sometimes success can fuel passion more than passion can fuel success.
Your last sentence...Yes.
You gotta love this guy. He needs to find his passion for ironing though.
LOLLLL
LOL JAJAJAJA you're right
His shirt looks like a used paper bag lmao
How shallow 🤣
He needs to block some time for ironing in his schedule.
Passion is like love. Either you could wait your whole life waiting for THE perfect Thing to happen by
or you can take what you have and make it perfect
He never said following your passion is bad. He said "follow your passion" as an advice is bad. Because no one is born with a passion. Why everyone seems to misunderstand him?
you are right bro ,you totally changed my path of thinking & understanding Newport
Read your first 2 sentences until you realize how stupid they are.
Nikola Rajkovic LOL
I think his one quote better summarizes his take on passion and work: “You cannot expect a really good working life until you’re really good at something.” Seems like a rational strategy. Have a rare and valuable skill and build your career around it.
because it's simply not true. There are MANY people born with a passion. Ive spoken to parents and seen kids who pick up something at the age of 2 and never let it go. Kids who from birth were obsessed with a particular hobby or exhibited a talent. Cal speaks in absolutes and it's not the case for everyone. Some people grow their passion, others are born with it. And some never grow it no matter what they do. That's it.
I've never heard of Cal Newport, but he's an outstanding speaker. Very old-school.
He writes lots o' books :)
He also spends next to no time online. Particularly no time consuming social media. A healthier way of living, and it shows.
Please read Deep Work by him
cal newport changed my life
May i ask how
@@narisofia4053 His book Deep Work maybe?
Mine too, by changing my mindset
Your passion is not what you want to do and think you're passionate about, your passion is what you put in everything you have to make it work even if it means spending ten years in another thing you don't like just to systematically get to your passion. That's why it's called "following your passion", it meant working on whatever it takes to get to it.
I love the tip about increasing your deep focus sessions by 10 minutes for every 10 successful sessions. Never heard that before. Sounds excellent. Looking forward to future experimentation.
What I have found in life is that we are most passionate when we are moving through the steepest growth curve during the process of mastery. When we are learning about something at a fast pace and where we have already gained some level of mastery (we feel great about what we have learned and how good we are at something yet we are still learning fast). Once we have mastered something (learning slows) eventually we grow into people who are ready for perhaps another passion that is more challenging. Therefore, find A passion = find something to master but realize you will have many passions during your lifetime (hopefully!).
big fan of him
I'm being extremely helped by his book DEEP WORK
I am reading the book at the moment. It is a fascinating book
oh I didn't know that's his book. A really good book.
@@ej8211 what is it about? Thanks!
@@carlosmaldonado8600 I read it a while ago now but it was an eye opening book about our (lack of) ability to focus in our daily lives and the life changing effects when you master the skill to do deep work!
@@ej8211 thanks!
Cal Newport is a really good speaker. His clarity of thought is resonated in each sentence he speaks.
This man has excellent advice for people who are clueless about their passion.
‘ It’s not how you get started that matters. Maybe what matters is what you do once you get going’
Most ( or all) people are not born with a life purpose. The passion can come when you put in the work. When you upgrade your skills and learn more about a certain thing, it’s possible that you will enjoy it. It’s worth a try.
It’s like going running. In the beginning you don’t want to do it. The first miles most of the times suck. But then your body get’s used to it and you even start enjoying it. The passion has followed the work. It’s the other way around.
Love Cal, he’s a good role model, outstanding public speaker, and carry great values.
For the most part we only look at the passion of successful people
The title should be: "Passion can be developed." That does not imply that "Follow your passion" is bad advice. It is great advice, for instance, many people end up unhappy because they followed the "realistic" career their parents told them to follow instead of their own interest.
Beware of black and white thinking.
Newport is bad about that black and white thinking.
KarlBookLover You should read hia book
he addresses your question and argues why is "follow you passion" is bad advice
Thank-you for your talk. I was going to write more, but comes down to thanking you for condensing down what I'm sure has been hours upon hours upon hours of analysis. Great job!
+Alida Finnie I know right, great talk! What skill are you working on developing?
Great talk, Thanks for sharing it!
Just purchased Cal's latest 3 books, so excited to read them!
Brilliant and contrarian exposition about his idea of how we end up loving what we do. The current notion of following your passion presupposes that we have one to begin with. My personal experience corroborates his argument. I started to work in photography over 20 years ago. I literally stumbled into this field. As I go immersed in it I got more and more involved to the point that it became my way of living. The deep work part was evident with the long hours of dedicated years that brought joy and a sense of significance. Before I started this journey I did not know this will become a dominant part of my life. Thanks Cal, by the way next time iron that shirt man, it creates so much visual noise that it takes away from your phenomenal content.
If it's a 60/4.0, what is it at 125/?
"If you want to love what you do, do what Steve Jobs did and not what he said." Just WOW
Steve jobs had his successful life, young students are going to make a career , do you think each one of them could follow their own passion and just forget about the real world issues... I mean ,i am a fond of gaming and i also want to become a gamer ,but i can't end up practicing for 10 hours a day as it won't pay me... Also many of us indians have a financial problem , if they all just go and dance and sing or do whatever they want , will someone pay them for that. Answer is a big "NO" passion doesn't really feeds you.. but if you make your job your passion you will do wonders
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks Cal
get skilled at something and be very good at it, by the time you should be passionate about it
this might cheer who did not find their passion yet :)
I know it did me. I'm a musician who didn't start cello until 12. Been playing ever since. I wasn't born with this passion for cello, it developed as i did more with it. I love so good they can't ignore you, has helped me grapple with the follow your passion idea in a healthier way than i ever did.
What if it's all about the money?
@@infamouscrusader3363 get money then
Loved it! Simple & to the point ;)
absolutely, listen to what others do not what they say
i love his deep work book. very true to current lack of focus among people. However, i disagree with his advice in this video. follow your passion doesn't means you only have one passion through out your life. it keep changing. The best thing is, when you follow your passion, you will always do your best, and in the process you found another thing that you more passionate which you put more effort and work hard. this process keep you feel fulfilling and happy life, even it doesnt look like that by other people.
Loved this video! Man, I need to stop watching these videos and get back to work... :P
Great Talk!
This is really great!
Show me one successful people at the top that doesn't following their passion. In every interview you will find that the successful are doing what they love. And this man is also doing what he likes to do.
I don't think you really listened to what he was saying. He used Steve jobs as an example. He was at the top of his game. In fact, when you look at a lot of top people they have had very diverse careers. Look at his Steve jobs example. Steve tested the market and tried different things. When he was at university he showed no passion for tech. This speaker's point is that when they become good they develop a passion.
I wish I could send this to every career counsellor I had growing up. "Follow your passion" alone will never lead to success. In my experience passion has little to do with work success at all. We earn satisfaction by what we achieve in a competitive world and gain passion to work harder for continued success. It's a warped mantra that should be as discredited as old psychology theories that blamed the majority of personal adult problems on parenting influences.
Amazing
The deep work part is a treasure chest for students. Also look into Cal newports study hacks and Adam robinsons what smart students know book
According to this speech, if I practice writing enough, I can become a world-class novelist. If I play the piano enough, I can eventually make a career out of playing the piano. Can I play in the NBA too? I would've assumed that I couldn't do any of these things without passion. His message seems to imply that we need to stumble into our careers and if we're lucky we'lll grow to love them. I can only assume that most people aren't going to be so lucky.
I know it's an old comment but basically hes saying that the things we develop a passion for are things we least expect to have a passion for
Obviously he does not own an iron... but indeed great speech!
Wendy Thompson obviously you do not have any speeches or best selling books. But indeed, great iron!
It seems there is a confusion here between success and happiness. Some successful people are not actually happy. I am not sure Steve Jobs was happy.
It seems there is a confusion here between what matters and what society thinks matters. Is personal happiness really the end goal?
Personal happiness clearly isn't the goal of society. But if it is not the goal of the individual, then the individual is emotionally dysfunctional.
if you treat happiness as a goal you're already failing, for happiness being usually a process - the state of being when you feel when you see progress towards goals and objectives you value, or that things are working out without falling apart.
The pursuit of happiness is in itself suffering.- viktor frankl (Holocaust survive/psychiatrist)
M. Kruter honestly success doesn’t equal happiness
Most great people do many things before they hit on something.
B_E_A_UTIFUL!
Very true!
This deserves more views.
informative!
Great!!!
This is changing my approach to working in a warehouse
Wow, Deep insights,
i wish i knew this when i was young.
Ray Kroc was over 50 before he started McDonalds.
mcdonalds is gross
Zelda Reben
And it kills people.
At least you know it now though. Never too late to make a change in your life. It may get harder as you get older but it's never too late.
For example, I'm 27 about to be 28 and I've changed jobs/careers often, following my interests/passions. I've realized those tend to change too often and dedicating yourself to a skill/talent is where you develop the passion and fulfillment sought by people.
This is great advice for those who know how to efficiently compartmentalize.
Cal teaches about developing this skill. calnewport.com/ - It's frustrating when there are barriers to developing it though.
Heidegger says we are thrown in to a world which has meaning, meaning which is usually felt in moods, which we unreflectively project on to. You can not make yourself, most possibilities are covered up, only those given to you by your cultural history are available. You are for the most part its being , it together with you as one phenomenon exist.
i followed my passion of partying till 2am every weekend, sometimes on weekdays and scoring with chicks i just met. I didn't get anywhere until I got serious about college and gave up that life.
Find something you like or could like, and through work, create a passion for it.
Watch the video. Only 5 percent of students surveyed have a passion. Most develop passion AFTER gaining skills and getting good at something. This is evidence based, useful advice.
Passion -> skill -> Deep Work -> practice, consistent.
Why skill over passion?
"you are too good to be ignored"
If you can sacrifice your comforts and you're willing to put in the efforts to understand a complicated subject, it shows you've found your passion. After all, passion means sacrifice.
Following practicality and logic is also bad advice. Happiness is an emotion. You can't achieve it by doing the safest, calculated thing all the time. It will just generate more stress.
That's great advice to give to a person with an elite education and a wealthy or upper middle-class background. There's always a cushion and recovery available for making rash choices. Such advice could cause irreparable damage to someone without exceptional aptitudes or financial means
A good idea and a very effective way to make people understand what Newport thinks, he is an excellent grade orator and a motivator besides his extra ordinary knowledge and a will to make others understand what they are thinking is whether wrong or right and trying to guide them towards the profitable.
Sooo at the end my question is.
What is that skill? That i shall develop.
Maybe a one that i like? I'm so confused please help.
He also said that when you "follow your passion" you tend to give up when it's not fun, so should i just do what i like and master it till i get happy?
Or should i 😵😵😵😵😵😵
There are a lot of rare and valuable skills and so little time. How does one even choose whether it is worth investing time in Skill X > Skill Y? Might there be where passion comes in?
yo can you put the slides from presentations up long enough for people to read
I almost missed his explanation of deep work (had to rewind) because I was reading an article from my facebook feed and got distracted.
ok...
so if you hate your job just work really hard at it and eventually you'll become passionate about it?
plz can someone tell me where is the mistake in line 4 17:47 .
My question about this is what should I do to be a passionate, intelligent, and great scientist? You can't really "practice" making discoveries. What does one do to attain more passion and skill in a field that requires knowledge and flexibility rather than skill? For example, mathematics.
EPlays Make progress. Getting positive results increases your passion, which also increases your level of skill, which allows you to practice more, which allows you to get more results, which increases your passion...
So what’s the 3rd point? the editor didn’t show that part of slide :/
More than passion, I would work on awareness. When you become more aware of your emotions and adjust when necessary, then your passion will come. I am aware about ironing my shirt before talking on stage. 😉
He looks really young here, compared to now.
Follow your cold, hard, reasoning ... and funnel your passions into something productive and useful :-D
I'd like to know how he came to do what he does as a career
You have to taste stuff and pick one interest and go all in. His choice has been actually quite arbitrary as you can read on his blog
The people who disliked are following their passion.
Yep and you don’t follow your passion?
lol
now i dont know what to major in. im into art, and design, now i dont know what to do.
Choose something that allows you to make a real contribution to the people around you, but that also allows you to develop high levels of skill.
Antonio Lernanto great answer man
Baby Cal
❤️
I appreciate what he is saying but he is looking at the people well known enough to be easily researched. I know many people, particularly musicians and writers who work hard and are skillful but they certainly are not successful. From what I have seen there are two more factors. One is luck or serendipity-he mentions re the great piano teacher and second, the ability to market oneself, which most people are not good at; of course this may be a meta skill that everyone needs in order to succeed.
Most of the negative comments are people that didn’t watch the last half
Anybody have a copy of the calendar he said he uses?
Most of Steve jobs early successes was seeing the market for things Steve Woz invented.
Following your passion is not for the weak
17:46 What's the mistake in line 4?
it's a joke
@@mKruter Where is the joke? That's correct math.
I really like Cal, and own many of his books. I need to take another look at this one, because his anecdotal, and simple dismissal of passion (something he never defines) isn't really convincing. Yes, mastery can lead to self-confidence and a positive self-image. You could be the best custodian, or taxi driver, or garbage man....but professional competence does not remotely require happiness or contentment. I know MANY physicians that liked the idea of being a doctor, and were very competent, but HATED the way the business/profit angle destroyed the experience. (See ZDoggMd) I like to modify the concept like the old idea about love, which was people didn't get married for passion (which is the modern western conception), but through time, consideration, and dedication learned to love their spouses more and more.
"Shenanigans!"
Ima do my passion lol
Anyone else bugged that you can't figure out whether you want to iron his shirt or if the wrinkles add a nice casual feel? I am.
So, what to follow?
Follow what you can, not what you can't
He doesn't understand that some people like to do the hard things. Arnold swarzanegger liked training. The outcome was a reward for training well. Steve said keep searching, not do something where you really want the reward. We all want six packs. It's the 10% who love running/training/weights/soccer who will get it. Not because they forced themselves because they hated it but because forcing yourself was the inky way to get that much better.
+Stephen Irving Bro. You are obviously butt hurt that this guy said Steve Jobs was wrong. And guess what, Steve Jobs WAS wrong.
+Stephen Irving Only 10 percent of athletes end up in the major leagues of all sports... what about the 90 percent?
our media glorifies those made it, but they dont speak of millions of those who failed and gone depressed in their pursuit of making it..
Steve Jobs said: "Keep Looking", he never said: "follow your passion".... It's when people miss this lesson that they have to grind. 'Life is the grind'. If you don't like what you're doing, working way way harder at it won't make it more enjoyable. You either enjoy it or you don't. Saying: "Consiisntent learning" leads to being good at something is so common sense it's kind of hard to take seriously.. But he then says: it's not UNTIL you're good at you enjoy it. That's where it goes from straight common sense to straight moronic. So you're telling me when we eat, we don't enjoy it until we're reeeeeeslly good at it. Or sex or talking to people, or movies or karate, or dancing or singing or maths, or golf, or making movies or drawing it accounting, or business or any other single thing you could do. Do you really believe that? I guess you must.
@achilles all the more reason to do something you enjoy. If you couldn't reach the NBA would you quit basketball? under this guys logic, you wouldn't even enjoy basketball UNtIL you reached the NBA.
It takes 10000 hours to master something, if we live to 75 and sleep 8 hours per day we have 75 x 365 x 16 = 438,000 hours in our life. Based on 'the dip' which Seth Godin refers to as the point where the 'easy' learning stops and the hard work starts, we have a choice to either push through and master the skill or stop. So we can only master a maximum of 43 things (438,000/10,000) so it is very important to actually choose which skills you learn and you should base this on a) what you're naturally good at (peter drucker) which most people fuck up: "Most people think they know what they're good at, they're usually wrong" (Charlie Munger) and what you enjoy. If a kid loves playing guitar, he will play the 10000 hours on his own accord. The Chinese (and this guys approach) would be when a kid HATES playing the guitar instead of letting him quit you say: "No, keep playing, you will like it when you are good at it". I simply ask him (and you) to identify ONE person who hates what they do and are amazing at it. Just one. You might be okay or even good if you are not passionate about your skills, but will never be amazing. You won't.
Sooo... it´s more like "you don´t have to follow your passion to be happy with your career". But I fail to see how it in any way refutes that it is good to already be passionate about something prior to doing it?
Watch the video. Only 5 percent of students surveyed have a passion. Most develop passion AFTER gaining skills and getting good at something. This is evidence based, useful advice.
Chris H Yes, but that doesn´t refute what I said in any way. I for example DID have a passion even in the elementary school. This video´s title suggests I should definitely NOT follow it, even though it is nowhere in the video said once that that is the case or why it would be.
+Riwillion It's mainly an examination of why some tend to be miserable or unsatisfied, despite going into something they previously enjoyed: it also analyzes how skill at what one may do is a bigger indicator of fulfillment than "passion" alone. I think you misunderstood the greater message here;
Some can get away with doing what they originally intended to do, but that's only the exception, not the rule. That's why he uses examples of people who seemed to have built their talents from "out of the blue.." To show that talents, more often than not, aren't always predetermined.
I hate TH-cam That may be the case to an extent, but we know that people are generally better at what they enjoy doing, what they have a passion for, what they are interested in. Of course not necessarily, I for example love chess, and yet I am a rather mediocre player, but there is a significant correlation - if I didn´t like chess, I wouldn´t have played them more than a few times, which wouldn´t lead to me being even a mediocre player, but rather a completely crappy one, which in turn, wouldn´t have lead to me enjoying chess even more and playing more and so on :) Yes, I agree that following one´s passion is not necessary in most cases and can be actually a bad thing for some people, but I insist that generally speaking, it is better than just randomly picking something and trying to develop a liking for it by becoming good at it - that also may or may not work, and as explained, getting better at something you don´t enjoy in the first place, is harder, less rewarding, and slower than getting better at something you are passionate about.
You are actually right in your observation because if you look closer, he refutes the "advice", not the "follow your passion". Because the advice presupposes that everyone has already pre-existing passions and it is your only way to success. But it should not be a rule. It's not bad to follow your passion but it's bad to advise anyone to "follow your passion".
I listened to this guy Cal Newport and a few minutes into his sermon he admits that working at something you like, love,are interested in,passionate about...is a good thing. He twists others words to make himself look smarter.A common trick we see everyday in the USA.The people who say "follow your passion" somewhere advise that you have to take action in the form of small steps to see if something your mildly interested in might develop into a passion the more you learn.
*THESE ARE MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS, I WON'T RECOMMEND ANY ONE TO BLINDLY BELIEVE THIS AS EXPERIENCE CAN VARY. BELIEVE WHAT YOUR MIND SAYS*
Passion isn't that one got inherited... It's something that get developed inside one... I often see people saying follow your passion... But many are confused about their passion and think that they will be having time when they will realise their passion. But that's nonsense I think. It's better to get inspired in some profession, and affirming it as your passion,and when you make some fruits out of it, so called interest-passion gets intensified.
And to an extend, there can some traits which makes one interested, or at least okay to follow , based on ones childhood environment. For example, if one grew up having watched science experiments, scifi things, he might be having some inclination towards it. But as time changes we get involved in other activities, and our area of interest change with time in most cases. So it's better to watch upon some good things that you love(or at least appealing to you in any manner as this task of finding your interest can be difficult) and examine all them, correlating it with your future and the type of professional you want to be. Then simply follow it. See, everyone is not the same. Some are having some clear cut visions and passion, that's totally personal. If we are taking it in a universal manner, then 100% effectiveness can't be guaranteed...
Create your passion in your personal life. Doing it in your professional life is gonna earn you $20,000.
So wrong hahah so so wrong
the reason why this guy is talking here is because he has passion on what he's doing even before he started doing it. he just doesnt know it.
Passion is not inborn, passion is develop by getting good at doing something.
@@antonczernybut you do get born with some inclinations towards certain fields.
You say things in speeches especially at graduation ceremonies, that are popular for mass consumption. They are not meant to be taken as fluff.
Most writers & publishers are not needed.
He loves what he does so much he can't find the time to iron his shirts :)
This plays well at 1.25 speed
Focus your passion on your spouse and kids and your career will follow. And you will be fulfilled.
What he means is don't FOLLOW your pre-existing passion from the past, FIND your passion, and never settle until you do.
If you want to follow your passion but are confused then you must watch this video: th-cam.com/video/1wPhAknPQLQ/w-d-xo.html
Chinese got that figured out
"Don't follow your passion" applies only to the people that don't understand what the job they are passionate about is like and that is the name of the speech and thesis of the book. I don't think anyone with an average IQ and the age when you choose your career can get any value from this speech
P.S. Steve Jobs said, "Without passion, any rational person would give up". So instead of using that you chose some other quote so you can debate what it means?
P.P.S. Cal, please stop writing. You are making people stupid.
I didn't understand tip number two,"having an artifact after every deep work session", could someone give me an example?
To put into practice what you have just learned. If you learn a new painting technique, you force yourself to create a new painting implementing this technique to lock in the information you have learned, so it is not just passive learning.
Thank you!, I listen to it again and he sais "having a clear outcome after each deep work sesion", just like you said "implementing what you learned"
i guess in my case with language learning i should try to explain to myself with my own words the things i learn after watching a video in a foreign language.
If you are learning a new language, I strongly advise you watch this video by Cal Newport as well. Type this into the TH-cam search bar: 2012 Texas Regional Project, "Study 30 Minutes a Day, Get a 4.0 GPA!"
I think the "active recall" part in that video combined with the "implement what you just learned" advice from this video will really help you learn quicker! :)
I came here looking for my passion....anyone else?
If you read the origins of Apple, even Jobs didn’t have a passion for company.
20:38 subs
I just keep thinking about Newport saying that "Jobs didn't have a passion to be a tech industry CEO" which strikes me as completely idiotic. That's like saying "Neil DeGrasse Tyson didn't have a passion to be a TV personality." Of course they didn't, but they loved certain things and pursued them (NDT talks about loving space from a very young age) and they led to other opportunities.
He talks about Bill McKibben-- No, he didn't set out to become an environmentalist but I just bet writing was one of his passions that he followed, not just a "skill he honed." I think the thing about this guy is he just can't imagine that some people actually have a passion at 18 or 19 that leads them into a successful career. No, lots of people don't have interests....but that's on them for being dullards.
And as someone else points out, what if you do have a passion from a young age-- why WOULD YOU NOT FOLLOW IT? Clearly, if someone IS NOT passionate about something, they can't follow their passion. This guy takes common sense and talks circles about and really sort of misses that life isn't about naked and blind ambition.
Remember Harambe