So Good They Can't Ignore You: A Syrios Book Review

Will motivation strike you out of the blue to find the perfect career you will be passionate about?

Almost certainly not. This is the case Cal Newport makes in his book So Good They Can't Ignore You, which I reviewed for our YouTube channel here. In short, motivation FOLLOWS action. You get good at something and then you become inspired about it.

It hit me to review this book when I saw this tweet from Brad St​ulberg,

A big misconception is that you need to be motivated to get rolling.

You don't.

Research: Motivation often FOLLOWS action, not the other way around.

In Practice: You don't need to feel good to get going; you need to get going to give yourself a chance at feeling good.

— Brad Stulberg (@BStulberg) February 1, 2021

This is key point that Cal Newport makes in his book. The quote comes from comedian Steve Martin, who said the key to success is simply "to be so good they can't ignore you." Instead, unfortunately, Newport notes the standard advice that is so pervasive even Steve Jobs gave it,

“The key to occupational happiness is to first figure out what you’re passionate about and then find a job that matches that passion” (pg. 4).

This however, is backwards. As Newport notes, motivation comes AFTER you become good at something. Action comes first, then inspiration. For example, he notes one study where,

“…They studied players who had all spent roughly the same amount of time—around 10,000 hours—playing chess. Some of these players had become grand masters while others remained at an intermediate level… [It turned out that] Hours spent in serious study of the game was not just the most important factor in predicting chess skill, it dominated the other factors. The researchers discovered that the players who became grand masters spent five times more hours dedicated to serious study then those who plateaued at an intermediate level” (pg. 81-82).

I've certainly noticed this in my own life. When I stareted at the guitar, I didn't enjoy it. No inspiration struck me. It was when I finally could play something that resembled a song that I started liking it. Sames goes for real estate. I had no natural draw to houses, but when I got the hang of it, I got inspired by it.

The idea that inspiration will just hit you and then you should follow your passion is quite dangerous. It persuades people to wander around waiting for motivation. It makes people not fully engage with what they are doing because they "haven't found what motivates me yet."

If that's your attitude, you'll be waiting until you die.

In that way, this book is great. Unfortunately, like Mindset, it is, more or less, just that one great idea. Luckily, this one is shorter than Mindset which better justifies it only having one great idea. So I give it four stars. A short book worth reading.

Previous Book Reviews
Mindset by Carol Dweck (Video)
Great by Choice by Jim Collins and James T. Morten (Video)