There’s a book called So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport, which really caught my eye. The book talks about exactly what the title states – be so good they can’t ignore you.
I know at our company, we’re always looking for people who are hungry, humble, and smart. When I say smart, we’re talking about emotional intelligence.
I believe this is where real opportunities come from. I know they did for me.
Way back when, I was a bartender for a lot of years. And I loved it. My “real job” was born from opportunities that came my way from who I had met at the bar. I believe those opportunities were created because I showed up and loved what I was doing. Don’t get me wrong. There were a lot of times I had to fake it, but some significant opportunities came from that job.
The book also talks about finding your dream job and being passionate about what you do.
There is one thing that we tell young people that I don’t agree entirely with: make sure you find a job that you love to do. I believe that in order to achieve this, we must go through some hardships. Dream jobs rarely just appear out of thin air. Look at the story of Steve Jobs. He talked about finding what you love, but he had to grind, grind, grind, to get to the point of loving what he did.
My advice to young people is love what you do and what you love to do will find you. I think that’s a quote I made up myself actually. Whoa! My very first original thought. Then again, someone may have said it somewhere in the universe.
So, instead of finding what you’re passionate about, be passionate about the job you’re in. Have a passionate mindset, and you will find the job you love and are passionate about.
What about us older people (remember, I am 56!)? If you hate what you do, it might be time to consider something new. That isn’t to say if you have a few bad days, you should throw in the towel and quit. But if you hate it every day, I believe you should do something different.
Life is good! — Jeff
