So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

A job, in Wrzesniewski’s formulation, is a way to pay the bills, a career is a path toward increasingly better work, and a calling is work that’s an important part of your life and a vital part of your identity.

Hardness scares off the daydreamers and the timid, leaving more opportunity for those like us who are willing to take the time to carefully work out the best path forward and then confidently take action.

television writing is attractive because it has the three traits that make people love their work: impact, creativity, and control.

“Money is a neutral indicator of value. By aiming to make money, you’re aiming to be valuable.”

Deliberate practice is often the opposite of enjoyable.

Improving Fund-raising Materials 3 Fund-raising Process 12 Due Diligence Research 3 Deal Flow Sourcing 3 Meetings/Calls with Potential Investors 1 Work with Portfolio Companies 2 Networking/Professional Development 3

Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands…. Deliberate practice is above all an effort of focus and concentration. That is what makes it “deliberate,” as distinct from the mindless playing of scales or hitting of tennis balls that most people engage in.

when you focus only on what your work offers you, it makes you hyperaware of what you don’t like about it, leading to chronic unhappiness.

Working right trumps finding the right work.