Passion Is Not a North Star

I just finished Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You. His thesis is that passion follows mastery — you don’t find your dream job by following your heart, you build it by getting so good at something valuable that opportunities find you. He profiles people who spent years developing rare skills before the work … Continue reading Passion Is Not a North Star

The Craftsman and the Machine

I’m reading Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You, and I keep seeing his argument play out in real time at work. Newport says rare and valuable skills — career capital — are what give you leverage. The craftsman builds that capital through reps, not passion. Show up, get deep, get good. The leverage … Continue reading The Craftsman and the Machine

Twenty-Two

I’ve sold twenty-two copies of my first novel. I’m going to sit with that number for a second, because it means two things at once. First — I wrote a book. A real book. A story I’m genuinely proud of. It has four five-star reviews on Amazon from people who aren’t just being nice. One … Continue reading Twenty-Two

Make Your Own Map

Day 75 of 280 | The 7-40 Challenge Nobody is going to hand you the plan. I’ve only started realizing that this year. I knew if I wanted to be successful, I had to name my own goals — not adopt someone else’s and try to chase them with my own passion. That just doesn’t … Continue reading Make Your Own Map

Gratitude Sunday: You Showed Up

Day 69 of 280 | The 7-40 Challenge | Thank You Campaign Last Monday night, I did something I’d been putting off for weeks. I hit publish on a Facebook post telling my friends and family that I’d written a novel. That it was on Amazon. And that I’d love for them to read it. … Continue reading Gratitude Sunday: You Showed Up