Best personal success books according to Reddit
Reddit mentions of So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
Sentiment score: 65
Reddit mentions: 90
We found 90 Reddit mentions of So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love. Here are the top ones.
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| Height | 8.375 Inches |
| Length | 5.75 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | September 2012 |
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Instead of giving you advice, I have the perfect book recommendation that will come pretty close to directly answering your question. I read this years ago, but only just found it again and am giving it another read through.
The book is called 'So good they can't ignore you: why skills trump passion in the quest for work you love' by Cal Newport.
The author actually has a computer science degree funnily enough. In it he uses empirical evidence to argue that the common advice of 'follow your passion' is flawed and unrealistic, and generally bad advice. After arguing that he puts forward his arguments about what the best course of action is if you discount the passion hypothesis. Its full of examples of people he interviewed who took different approaches to end up doing what they love, why some failed at it and why some didn't. I really can't recommend this book more highly actually, I think it will be perfect for you.
Here is the amazon link
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Your dream life is 100% possible today. You can get remote gigs as a programmer making 6 figures working 5 hours a day if you have the aptitude for it. So if you're fine making $50k per year (which is more than enough for van life), you could work like 15-20 hours per week doing consulting work over a satellite internet connection from your van. And then take all the rest of that time and live your life. :) But you've got to work to get there because it requires lots of technical expertise in something.
These books have good generic advice for getting there if you're interested. They're by a professor who got into a tenured position while working normal hours (most people on tenure tracks work INSANE hours), so he knows what he's talking about.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692/
I think you might be viewing all work as the rat race, which isn't correct. The people who say 'this is just being a grown-up, deal with it' are making the same mistake. It's possible to set up your life to avoid this by finding enjoyable work and having low enough expenses that you can take risky or low-paid options. So:
Develop valuable skills that you enjoy using You need skills that you can exchange for things you need or care about such as money, schedule flexibility, short hours, or interesting work. You say you are not good at many things. You'll need to get good at at least one thing that other people will pay you for. The book So good they can't ignore you is the best resource on this topic. It's about building a satisfying career by developing valuable skills. Also check out this series of blog posts from the author.
Reduce your costs If you can avoid big expenses that other people spend on, then you have a lot more flexibility to pursue career options that are more enjoyable but are risky or low income. For example, move to a cheaper region of the world, live on a sofa, live in a van, don't have a car, don't have a partner who cares a lot about domestic comfort. I'm not sure what the best online resources are for this, but try googling things like: minimalism, frugal, early retirement, mrmoneymustache, vanlife, and digital nomad.
If you're really truly interested in mastering this hobby and applying yourself to learning it, here's what I would recommend:
Good luck with your journey! It's been one of the greatest I've embarked on in my adult life :)
Here are some books I would recommend on the topic:
Mastery by George Leonard (talks a lot about mindset and learning to love the plateau)
Talent is Overrated by Geoffrey Colvin (gives a lot of pointers when it comes to deliberate practice)
So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport (lots of counterintuitive but useful info on developing skills)
The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle (lots of great info about what to look for in a good coach/teacher)
This is basically the point of So Good They Can't Ignore you. An MIT Comp Sci PhD researched and interviewed a bunch of folks to figure out how people have a good career. His conclusion was to get really good at something, and you will become passionate about it (he actually calls "following your passion" a trap).
edit: fixed link
You're conflating "success" with "career". This is not what OP is talking about. They're merely suggesting that you have to try things; hobbies, jobs, etc, before you know what your passion is. Very often the thing you find that you're "good at" becomes your passion, rather than the other way around.
So Good They Can't Ignore You digs into this concept in greater detail.
Lose the swift programming course, it’s not really relevant to you, and you already have a lot to cover in a tight space of time.
Good luck with your studies. As others have already said in this thread getting a researcher position will be super hard. There aren’t all that many positions available, and there’s so much hype around ML that they’re all super over-subscribed. You might be right that you don’t need a PhD, but a PhD and research experience are useful and you will be up against those that have them. You should consider getting some industry experience as a data scientist or data engineer (which might be a bit easier to get hired as) to complement your self study if you’ve decided academia is not for you.
You’ve got a lot of reading to do already, but I found the book So Good They Can’t Ignore You a helpful read when faced with a tough career choice. It’s not super long, and has some interesting ideas (mostly based on anecdotal evidence but useful nonetheless).
IMO, you are asking the wrong question. Saying
>what skills can I learn to support {lifestyle}
is putting your goals ahead of your employer's/client's goals.
Flip it on it's head:
>What are some skills I can learn that will make me invaluable in my job?
Whatever your next job is, ruthlessly innovate, experiment, and bring value to those you work with. Spend a year there building career capital and then cash that in for a job that includes the opportunities you want - like remote work.
Cal Newport wrote "So Good They Can't Ignore You" and I highly recommend you give it a read.
FWIW, I work remotely for my company, am well paid, and travel full-time, but in my conversations with them, my travel has never come up. All our interactions are about me bringing value to their business.
I recommend focusing on the same.
Good luck!
I favor the craftsman mindset over the 4-hour workweek approach, so I (perhaps unsurprisingly) did not find much value in Ferris's work. I've read 4-hour-workweek, some of his blog posts, seem some TED talks, and flipped through 'Tribe of Mentors, all of which I found mediocre. The biggest advocate of the craftsman mindset that I know of is Cal Newport. I've read his blog (studyhacks) and his book (So good they can't ignore you). I think his work tends to be better researched and more substantive. I recommend both.
I suspect that the differences between the two has a lot to do with where they come from. In my view, Ferris is still the salesman he was when he started out. Many of his strategies are great for salepeople - 'firing' bad customers, offloading customer support tasks, etc. However, its worth thinking about what he is selling here - and I think the core idea in Ferris's work is that you can make an easy buck. I don't know that this idea is worth buying, nor that he offers anything more valuable than a few productivity tips. Newport is an academic, and so his work is oriented more as an attempt to answer a question: what choices result in happy and successful careers. He started out looking for general trends in career satisfaction and success, and his books are reports of what he's found. Of course, he is still selling something - but I think he is selling something more valuable: empirically driven insight into meaningful work (the key insight, by the way, is that you need to adopt the crafstman mindset).
These two books by Cal Newport, one of the best authors on productivity and discipline.
Deep Work
So Good They Can't Ignore You
And also, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Aaaand, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
For mindset, I also recommend The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson. It'll teach you to choose your battles carefully, although you can find most of that content in his site.
There is a nice book about this. The present mantra of popular career advice is follow your passion. But this turns out to be not so good idea, becasue to actually have work that has the qualities of good work, you need to have something to give in exchange. That something is your unique skills.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124/
Education is your way out. The typical way to get out for young Indonesian is through education, but that means you need to be either rich (to pay for outrageous tuition fee / living cost abroad) or smart (to qualify for scholarships). Are you?
An alternative way out is through working on in-demands jobs. For instance, you can gain several years of working experience in IT in indo and then try to apply for openings abroad (Singapore is often the first step). However at the moment, the UK is a closed doors for non-EU people who want to come here to work in hope of a residency, so don't bother... Other countries in Europe that you can consider is Germany, where it's still possible to get a sponsored job visa if you're good.
A final point is: indo is actually isn't that bad. True there are shits going on with a small group of religious extremism, but things are actually getting better, with changes since the reformasi in 98 and people like jokowi+ahok on the lead. Indonedians are largely friendly everywhere, the society is relaxed, the weather is nice nearly everyday of the year, food is good, a lot of nature places to visit in the country alone (and can easily fly to south east Asia and the rest of Asia too), we have a decent economic growth (compared to the stagnant West) .. I guess my point is, if you fail to get out, it's actually quite a good place to be stuck in for now (especially if you can write in English and post on reddit, that usually assumes you come from middle-to-upper socioeconomic background, alongside its associated conveniences in life that you might have to give up when you get out).
Of course don't just take my words for it. For most people you actually have to get out first to realise how good we have it in Indonesia. So by all means, try to get out but don't be surprised that eventually you'd want to return. That's what I plan to do after being away for more than half of my life now. Plus maybe it's my idealism speaking but the country needs people like us, the smartest anak bangsa who leave due to the brain drain. It's only lately I'm seeing more and more people around me who reverses this trend and actually go back to indo after spending years abroad. I think it'd a positive sign that the country is doing something right.
Edit: for a more concrete advice on how to prepare to get out, basically read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124. Get really good in something that is in demands, and you can usually move anywhere you want in the world. For me, it's computer science. For you, it might be something else.
Edit2: you might also find that as you get older, you can compromise on the atheism vs religious bit. A lot of people put their religions on KTP only, but doesn't mean they actually have to practice that. Or you can simply move to the right neighbourhood in Jakarta where nobody gives a fuck what your religion is.
Yeah, it's really liberating to know that you can do anything you set your mind to... And that it's ok not to know your passion immediately!
My favorite books on this topic:
So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
and
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
For online business, I love these peoples' sites:
Check them out!
(Just in case someone's wondering... None of these are affiliate links! LOL.)
https://www.amazon.ca/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Read this book before you do anything rash- he offers a framework/perspective you might find helpful.
It's always hard to tell whether we are thinking "this is hard I want to stop because it's hard even though its making me grow" VS. "this path is legitimately pointless and not going to lead me to where I want to go with my life".
Pretty sure everyone deals with this kind of doubt- especially when you're really challenging yourself. Which is OFTEN a good sign, it means you're outside of your comfort zone which is where growth happens.
I'm just saying step 1 is figure out if this is just edginess due to perfectly normal feelings of inferiority (I'm not good enough/this is easy to everyone else) The first sentence of your post makes it pretty clear you're AT THE VERY LEAST adequate. "3rd year PHd student at a large research university..." I would bet on you being fairly capable, hardworking/intelligent. just a hunch. :)
The idea of "quitting" is seductive because there's no reality there- it's a pure concept that exists in our heads, a fantasy we construct when facing a difficult reality. This is a normal human reaction- you are normal.
TLDR; It's super healthy and normal for these kinds of doubts to come up. Also, even the most meaningful work is often difficult, boring, demanding and stressful- that's true in any field. But if you hate yoga and believe it's useless you shouldn't be working in a yoga studio. And if you have some other ability/skill that will meaningfully contribute to the world (WHILE GETTING YOU PAID) then it might be worth exploring that option first- before throwing away all your hard work.
Sounds like your attitude towards work has taken a hit and you need to realign yourself with YOUR purpose and motivation that doesn't involve rewards such as the approval of a parent.
Unfortunately, yes. You can open a taxable brokerage if you really want to get into the market.
However, the best thing to do right now is focusing on graduating and building skills that will set you apart from others. Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You is a good read.
'Appealing' depends on your target audience. The only advice I can think of without further context is to change the font of everything in the navigation section (including 'recent posts') to the same one as your site title. It will leave a better first impression.
To increase user traffic, read Google's guide to search engine optimization. Otherwise just share it on sharing sites like this one, or Facebook, or Digg, or physically mail your neighbours the URL.
Also read this book
I would check out most of Cal Newport's recent writings. He received his PhD in Computer Science from MIT, and is now teaching at Georgetown.
His main thesis is deliberate practice consists of lots of different facets, most of which aren't necessarily thought about. While his work focuses a lot on improving work in "knowledge fields" it is drawn mostly from creative pursuits. He argues that thinking about your habits for practicing and learning (meta-habits) are just as important as sitting down to practice or learn. For example, knowing how to build a clear path of improvement and success in learning the piano is as important as sitting down and working through the hard parts. Sometimes the hardest part is simply figuring out where it is wisest to invest your time.
His article "The Deliberate Creative" I found to be particularly enlightening, among others. He's also been published in the New York Times, The Economist, and has five bestselling books.
On a side note, I originally found him looking for ways to improve my study habits, which is what he originally wrote about as an undergraduate. Any current high school or college students would benefit GREATLY (IMO) from his blog and first three books. Seriously, the guy has some great stuff.
Some books that come to mind:
Studying 8-12 hours is NOT good. Start working out and I recommend these books:
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482042700&sr=8-1&keywords=so+good+they+can%27t+ignore+you
https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp/0544456238/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482042708&sr=8-1&keywords=peak
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081298160X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482042776&sr=8-1&keywords=the+power+of+habit
https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Penguin-Classics-Lucius-Annaeus/dp/0140442103/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482042852&sr=8-1&keywords=seneca
So, the idea is learn HOW to learn. Leisure is important and healthy for everyone.
If your serious about improving yourself this is a step in the right direction.
EDIT: www.calm.com go there and be.
Nope it's not. Analytics is a huge field, even if many of the blog posts and the coverage focuses on advanced machine learning and AI.
It's actually really wise to have a lifestyle in mind that you want to get to. This book - https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124 - provides a really good framework for thinking about how to get to your life style in any career / skill category. You can tour the author's blog to get a preview of some of the ideas - http://calnewport.com/blog/
His book and framework is especially great because it helps you cut through the noise (there's TONS of noise around how data science / analytics is covered, ironically) and will help you figure out the specific things you should focus on, etc. It's just a 3 hour read, but very helpful.
I'm going to recommend you a book here: Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You. If it's too expensive to buy, go check it out at your local library for free.
It's a short read and it'll put you on the right direction to a much better life. If you are REALLY lazy and don't want to read a book at all, I'll tell you what you need to know in one sentence:
> Keep developing rare and valuable skills and you will never go hungry.
Here's a good detailed summary and review from entrepreneur Derek Sivers: https://sivers.org/book/SoGood
Dude. You're doing well. Keep experimenting. Also. I just found the book and ordered it today: https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
You might be facing what I faced, jumping from job because the job didn't seem fulfilling enough. Could that be the case?
A few pointers for you:
Thats a tough one dude and I sympathise. TBH most people probably dislike their job.
I'd be identifying whether its the profession or the job itself. A career counsellor might work, but I'd be trying to find a mentor within your sector. Is there anyone you can reach out to?
I'd also recommend reading this if you can: https://www.amazon.com.au/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
ok dude, i really feel for you and see that you're struggling in this thread. i personally understand the lesson /u/csp256 is trying to teach you, because i learned it the hard way myself. but because it's just reddit comments its hard to put it eloquently.
everything about all of your comments and your post just absolutely screams to me that you are due for a mindset shift like i had 2 years ago. in a few words, stop focusing on what you want or what's right for you, and start focusing on what you can bring to the table. you NEED (i seriously mean NEED) to read this book. i absolutely implore you to please for the love of god read this book. in fact, i'm going to message you in 2 weeks to see if you have and i want to hear your thoughts on it. capische?
Degrees mean less than people think. Just ask any of the hordes of recent grads with generic liberal arts degrees about their job search. Unless you lay the groundwork in college and have a plan (e.g. doing internships to get you real world experience), or you have a very practical and technical major like engineering, a degree's not going to be much help getting you a job. Most people I know in that situation are settling for jobs that have nothing to do with their major and don't really make use of their education at all. I'm basing this on personal experience and various things I've read, but I'm sure you can find articles and evidence of this to show your detractors if you do some googling.
Why is this the case? Because in the real world, companies hire people to solve actual problems they're having - they're looking for someone with skills that will help their business. With the trend toward people changing companies (and even career paths) more and more frequently, companies are also getting less and less willing to develop people on the job, and it's more important to have useful skills you can provide out of the gate.
What does this mean? When planning your career, you need to think about what skills are valuable in the economy and develop your career capital accordingly. Some professions have strict credentialing systems, and you'll need to have the certificates to get into them (like medicine, law, and teaching). These are special cases, though - most jobs that companies are hiring for require skills and experience, not certificates.
Ok, how does this relate to OSSU? Learning software engineering and computer science is a solid career strategy that provides flexible and valuable career capital. The U.S. Bureau of Labor projects the Software Developer jobs will grow much faster than average over the next 10 years. The prevalence of coding bootcamps proves that it's possible to learn software development skills and get a high paying job with no relevant "official" certification or college degree. (I went through a coding bootcamp and went from no programming experience to a 6 figure job in Silicon Valley in less than a year).
If you're going to learn on your own without getting a degree, it's important that you have something to show for it that employers can look at to see the skills you've developed. That's why it's important to do projects and have an online portfolio where you can showcase them. If you can demonstrate that you have a useful skill, then you'll be a more attractive candidate than someone who just has some random degree.
I'd recommend the book So Good They Can't Ignore You and the website 80,000 Hours for further reading on career strategy. Hopefully some of that is helpful for you. I think you have a great plan and will be miles ahead of your peers if you follow through on it. All of that's not to say that you definitely shouldn't get a degree, but you'll probably have the luxury of passing on it if you work to develop employable skills on your own time.
Another thing to consider is how to cope in an existing job or career, instead of looking for another one. It's not always possible, but sometimes you can alter yourself or your job to make things better.
The book So Good They Can't Ignore You has some good insights, but is long-winded about them. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1455509124/
To be honest, I've never really participated in a traditional hiring process, so I don't know. I'm confident enough in my general competence that applying for jobs in the future doesn't really scare me. It seems your career philosophy is fairly traditional, which isn't a bad thing, but I do think "committing" less to one specific track can save you a lot of stress.
I would check out So Good They Can't Ignore You, by Cal Newport. If you can learn to work around your ailments and hone a special skillset, I believe you'll be respected and desirable as an employee! I don't know about outdoorsy stuff, but I am confident you can pave a way for yourself to do something at least park ranger-esque. Though you'll need to play the long game. Keep learning after college and consider everything research for eventual perfect job- one that caters to your interests + skills while accommodating your illness.
I know it sounds out there, but this sort of strategy could really be the way of the future. It's a risk worth taking, given that a traditional path (e.g. climbing a corporate ladder) is excessively difficult for PWN.
Te dejo un link a un libro que trata de este tema: So Good They Can't Ignore You, de Cal Newport.
Ce strategie ai abordat pentru a te imbunatati ca si programator?
Ce limbaje de programare ai folosit intr-un mod semnificativ pana acum?
Care-i contul tau de github? In ce proiecte Open Source esti implicat?
De la ce suma ai putea sa declari ca nu mai duci grija banilor?
Ca si sfat, iti recomand sa citesti 2 carti: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko si So good they can't ignore you. Daca intelegi mesajele din astea 2 carti, o sa fii ok, chiar super ok.
off the top of my head:
Meditations, with The Inner Citadel as a reader
Letters from a Stoic
A Guide to the Good Life by Irvine
Do The Work by Pressfield as well as The War of Art by Pressfield
Managing Oneself by Ducker
Man's Search for Meaning by Frankl
What Predicts Divorce by Gottman
Nicomachean Ethics
Models by Manson seems to be popular on reddit
So Good They Can't Ignore You by Newport, as well
I'm currently reading Triumphs of Experience by Vaillant and find it insightful.
I'm currently in Monk Mode myself. I'm probably only going for at most a 3mo. term at this (Started Dec. 1st). It sounds like you have a good plan. I'm focusing on the following things:
For learning to cook I highly recommend this book.
For addressing approach anxiety I recommend The Rules of the Game.
This is an excellent book on habit change. (OP this is how you start to break down those "masturbatory" habits)
Also, Monk Mode is basically an exercise in stoicism. This book is awesome.
Since you'll have plenty of time to read here are some other Books I recommend:
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"
"Models: Attracting Women Through Honesty"
"The Talent Code"
"Man's Search for Meaning"
"Flow"
Final thoughts OP. 6 months is definitely a worthy goal however studies show that 90 days is usually what it takes to create new habits and routines. You have to be consistent though. Just food for thought.
(Edit: I suck at formatting)
As a counterpoint to the "switch majors" camp, Cal Newport wrote a great book So good they can't ignore you that I read after I got dropped and was questioning pretty much every decision I made in college, and life, thus far. Unless someone literally wrote your application and didn't tell you what your major was going to be, there has to be at least something about it you like.
Newport argues that, rather than passion or gut feeling guiding your academic and career decisions, one should simply embrace the struggle of whatever they're pursuing and endeavor to become the best they can. Through this struggle, they learn to appreciate their craft, rather than beginning with an appreciation and then balking at the inevitable wall that everyone hits when doing something worthwhile. What this all boils down to: the more you learn and expose yourself to the intricacies of your major, the better you'll do, the more you'll end up appreciating it, and the better you'll want to do as a result.
What I recommend is to take a semester to knock out a bunch of geneds (Soc 100 is great for this) and do some independent study on topics in your major to find a niche that you are somewhat interested in. Try and delve as deep as you can into this niche. If you find that you truly can't find anything interesting, then you should probably reconsider majors.
You cannot possibly like both equally. If you do, then maybe you don't understand what each field has for you.
Also, passion is not everything either but its a good start IMO. I would highly recommend taking your time and reading this book as well https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Thank you for sharing these thoughts; I imagine that wasn't easy.
> My parents placed an emphasis on sports, and on winning. However, I have come to realize that this mindset breeds hedonism. When my purpose in life was to win and seek the most benefits for myself, this attitude ultimately led to mental weakness and a lack of willpower when it came to pleasureful activities. In my opinion, even the goal of being happy leads to a hedonistic lifestyle.
The way I see it, feelings of happiness fall on a spectrum between pleasure (short-lived, visceral, shallow) and joy (long-lasting, subtle, deep), and while seeking pleasure is hedonism, seeking joy is not. Helping others brings (most of) us joy, and altruism is pretty near the opposite of hedonism.
The trick, I think, is balancing our desires for pleasure and joy, as each provides its own stability. Not experiencing pleasure leaves us irritable and unpleasant, while lacking joy leaves us purposeless and depressed. Neither state is ideal for accomplishing anything.
> And now, here I am. I am utterly confused now, when it comes to my life's goals. Should my goal be to make contributions in order to improve human civilization? Or something else? Idk.
One approach I suggest you try is this:
This advice is based on the "craftsman mindset" advocated by Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You, which he presents in opposition to the "passion mindset" that focuses on the question, "What should I do with my life?"
While this doesn't directly address your philosophical questions, following this approach may provide you with a mental clarity that could help. Think of it as a bottom-up kind of philosophy that generalizes from your actions and experiences, rather than the top-down kind that seeks to impose abstract ideas onto concrete reality.
> Apologies for the rant.
No need to apologize, as this is the kind of thought we BettermentBookClub subs like to discuss. I'll tag /u/PeaceH, /u/Skaifola, and /u/TheZenMasterReturns, who may want to respond to you with their own perspectives. They know much more about Stoicism than I do, so they may even answer your questions, unlike me. :)
I had similar thoughts when I left the Corps.
Hard to give advice on what to study, because at some point it has to interest you, or you have be ok learning a lot about it.
The easier thing to say is don't study business/management as an undergrad. It's pointless. There's a reason why the fancy schools don't even offer those degrees. Learn skills.
Start taking classes and then chase where you excel. If you like numbers, go into math or some science program. Or if you're good at writing/talking, chase that.
The key is to keep thinking about how what you're learning becomes a useful skill set for someone who needs to hire people.
Let me suggest two books, both are likely in your public library.
The first book makes the great point that you shouldn't worry about long term goals. Get better at things, take opportunities when they come up, and put your effort into the work. My life got so much better when I finally started living that advice.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
https://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2016/dp/1501274643
> Grad school is not a place to jump ship and figure things out. It's expensive, and may not be worth your time.
This, a thousand times! Don't use grad school as a solution to a "my life sucks, I'm working 80 hours/week for no money" hair-on-fire crisis. Grad school in the US is pretty much the most EXPENSIVE possible way that you could solve such a crisis, and it's not even a guaranteed solution! As for the expense, you have to factor in not only the tuition and books but also the opportunity cost (i.e. the salary you miss out on because instead of having a job, you're in school). If tuition and books is $25,000 and your current salary is $30,000, then a two-year masters is actually costing you $55,000/year, for a total of $110,000.
OP, how about you take all the free time that you would have to spend on getting into grad school (deciding on a degree, researching schools, studying for the GRE, writing essays for your applications, etc.) and instead spend it getting yourself a job with a more normal schedule? Research possible jobs and employers, get help with your resume, practice your interview skills, apply and go to interviews, etc. etc.
Then start your new job. When things settle down a few months in, i.e. after you've gotten the hang of it and have adjusted to your new, more reasonable schedule, then start soul-searching again.
Read this book (best career book I've ever read, and I've read a ton of them): https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Read this book (best book for those in nonprofit/save the world and/or arts jobs): https://www.amazon.com/Lifelong-Activist-Change-without-Losing/dp/1590560906/
With a better job, you would have time to read those books. To figure out what you really want to do in life. To figure out what the best path to that goal is. And it would NOT cost you $110,000. It would cost you $0. It might even pay YOU, if you happen to find a job with a higher salary or better benefits than what you're getting now.
So first things first: find a way to take your time figuring out what you want to do with your life. If your everyday life isn't an unmanageable crisis anymore, because you have a more normal job and therefore reasonable amount of time to sleep and eat and have a life, then you can take your time to really figure out what you want and what's the best way you can serve.
So long as you make yourself aware of your own short comings and act on them, what you've described is mostly avoidable. Might I suggest So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport?
You seem to be focusing mostly on your external environment, but I don't think that's where your issues are. When we are unhappy we look outside of ourselves for the reasons and we can always find something to blame, but it's happening inside. Get your emotional state in order and everything else will fall into place. As to how to do that, it's not the same for everyone. But it's possible. Find what works for you. Therapy, meditation, self-help books, etc. If you are determined to find your way you will. It may take some time but it will happen. There is no need for anyone to feel like they're just killing time in life and basically waiting to die.
> I have no passion for the field of study I pursued.
I recommend the book So Good They Can't Ignore You for this.
Please look into this book:
https://www.amazon.ca/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1455509124&pd_rd_r=5cc4db23-5eb0-11e8-895a-49ce3940778b&pd_rd_w=DMRhC&pd_rd_wg=iXvs8&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_p=6833277728960378486&pf_rd_r=6JWDH0DQ5VZHRTJ0SG5K&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=6JWDH0DQ5VZHRTJ0SG5K
Here is a quote from the description:
"In this eye-opening account, Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice. Not only is the cliché flawed - preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work - but it can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping.
After making his case against passion, Newport sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving what they do. "
Have a great day.
Cal Newport saved my ass. Read “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” before choosing your major.
TL:DR; “Follow your passion” is BS advice. Most people have no built in passion. The people who found their careers most meaningful picked something that was hard and valuable, and then they got really good at their craft. I wish I had this book and JP’s advice on personality + career when I was 18.
> You're still new at that job! Don't expect to get interesting work right off the bat when you've only been there for a month.
^ Well said. You can't expect to fall in love with your field overnight. Time and experience almost inevitable will yield a more satisfied mindset and more intellectually stimulating work. You've got to pay your dues - that's the case in any technical field.
That said, it's possible that OP really is in a dead-end position, and recognizes it. (Unfortunately without knowing his personality, work ethic, details of the position, it's hard to know. Maybe OP is deceiving himself and really needs to put in the time, but maybe he's right to be thinking about an exit strategy).
In any case, the wise thing to do is probably for OP to stick it out at his current job, while investing a good amount of time in PhD program research. He's clearly already invested a good deal of thought in it, so I'm inclined to think he's already going about it the right way. OP: e-mail your old professor with some questions to indicate interest. There's no need to commit to anything, but you'll be able to convey your interest, willingness to work hard, independent work habits, and intelligence all by sending an email. Professors want these qualities in a student. Despite your concern about lack of research experience, these qualities can help.
> I've been told by engineers I used to work with (who had PhD's) that it's really not worth doing a PhD to work in industry
I'd respectfully disagree with this sentiment. It's common for engineers to hold this view, and I'd speculate that it's because too many people go into PhD programs for the wrong reasons.
It sounds like OP is quite interested in research. The time spent vs. lost potential income argument is old, simple, and easy to evaluate. I'm in a PhD program myself, and realize that it's possible my lifetime income has taken a blow (not a substantial one). OP can evaluate this tradeoff for himself. The benefit of a PhD is this: you qualify yourself for highly technical work that otherwise wouldn't be an option. Depending on your field, these positions vary, but they're nearly all very interesting! This is what OP wants.
Example: personally, when I'm done with my PhD I could be an R&D specialist for a specialty contractor, a researcher for the USGS, work at a national lab, work as a civilian researcher for the military, go back into engineering consulting (and work on highly technical and/or high-profile engineering projects), take a research position at a university. These are all interesting positions and I'm confident that an interesting opportunity will present itself.
Will I necessarily make up for the lost income during my PhD? Maybe not, but I think it's a good possibility. More importantly, my career will become much more interesting, and I'm confident I'll be able to look back on it with satisfaction.
> I spent a year away from school between my BS and MS physics and i can't tell you how important that is. Working teaches you to be an independent learner - there really is a difference between students who have worked in industry and have come back to school, vs those who have just done school.
^ Again, can't agree more. I spent 18 months in industry before my MS, and then decided to continue on to a PhD. I'm glad I went the route I did. So yes, OP's inclination to jump ship may be a bit premature. But I'd encourage him to do the research into PhD programs now, and when next application season rolls around, he'll be ready to decide - or perhaps give it another year if his work experience has been improving.
One last thing, OP should absolutely check out Cal Newport's Blog, Study Hacks, and strongly consider picking up his new book, So Good They Can't Ignore You. I just finished it and highly recommend it to anyone in a technical field / knowledge work, especially if you're in academia or considering an MS or PhD.
When you become and adult with a family in 10-15 years, the thing that motivates you go to work will not be your "passion" for whatever field you are in. It will be your desire to help provide for you family, pay bills, pay for vacations, and generally earn a comfortable enough living so that you don't stress about paying loans, etc. It is a difficult thing to convey to younger people - you may think that you are busy now but you are not - having a career and dealing with a family is a lot of work (but with lots of rewards too). Having to worry about money at the same time because you chose something that you thought was your passion instead of compromising is a mistake that I see lots of people make. It is almost always better to choose a career that doesn't work you to death but also affords you a comfortable living. Note that in the end, what ever line of work you choose will end up feeling like a job - management bullshit, deadlines, etc - you can't escape it so you might as well get paid well for it.
Read this book by a CS professor about why it's simple poor advice to "follow your passion":
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
He is a realistic and correct.
Some details
Consigue este libro. http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1455509124
Te va a aclarar algunas cosas básicas que necesitas saber para elegir una profesión. Yo llevo mas de 20 años que salí de la escuela y cuando leí el libro me hizo muchisimo sentido con lo que he aprendido el camino y que me ha ayudado en lo personal.
No le tengas miedo a las matemáticas. Mucha gente les huye pero tienen un gran impacto en tu comprensión del mundo. A mucha gente les parecen difíciles pero regularmente es por que tenemos algunos huecos en nuestra educación. Tipicamente lo que sucede es que el día que explicaron integrales te volteaste a ver a la guerita que se sienta al lado y cuando regresaste tu atención al pizarrón ya no entendías nada. Esos huecos se van haciendo mas grandes por que los conceptos se construyen unos arriba de otros. Ahorita es el momento de cerrar esos huecos, hacer eso te va a poner por encima de la mayoría de los profesionistas.
Hey OP, nice name. I am going to throw a book out there for you to read instead of spending time on social media. You'll have it done in a few days and some great ideas under your belt to give you positive energy going forward. I replaced toilet/down time on my phone with the book and that helped blast through it ;)
For example I like this bit:
"you don't need a rarified job, you instead need a rarified approach to your work."
Wisdom from Mr cal Newport. Self help author who tackles the conundrum of whether passion should drive your career or not.
Just so happens that Mr cal newport is a CS Doctorate.
Excellent, excellent, knowledge lies within. First book is
"so good they can't ignore you"
Now if that title doesn't spark your interest I dunno what will.
About 15 dollars
So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love https://www.amazon.com/dp/1455509124/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FOQTzbN6B8M1N
If you can't afford it, please DM me, would happily purchase it for you.
Remember in order for good stuff to come out of you, good stuff needs to get in there. Keep on keepin on my man.
(I am a recent grad, beginner in the enterprise, very familiar with ideas like imposter syndrome and the like, but very determined to make my way in the world)
Hay remedio.
From quora...
> I have helped a lot of people with trouble in math in the past years and I have one conclusion. What makes Math hard is that you need a really solid basis from the past subject in order to understand the next one. That means if you can’t sum well, you are not going to be able to learn how to multiple, if you can’t derive, you won’t be cable to do an integral. That is the nature of Math and people don’t realize this: many times my students ask my to teach them how to derive, then I notice that they don’t know transcendental functions, when I tried to explain them transcendental functions, then I notice they don’t know algebra, and so on, so many times I feel like Hall(the man in the video) trying to fix the light bulb.
> Math is not really hard, but it is accumulative, so if you didn’t get a concept in the past is going to be hard or even imposible to you to get a future concept which depends of it. So lets say that you find difficult a subject and you get 75% of the exam correct. Well before starting to study for the next exam you should study the 25% you didn’t get, EVERY TIME. In many other subjects the content of the next exam is independent from the last one, but not in math. Literally in calculus you need a wide variety of subjects: algebra, trigonometry, transcendent functions, limits. If one this is week you will never get the idea and truly understand it. If you have problems with math, I recommend you to learn with Khan academy because it is designed to teach in an accumulative way as it should be.
Te recomiendo que leas esto como ayuda para decidir que estudiar.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1455509124 - this book may be helpful
"So Good They Can't Ignore You"
"In this eye-opening account, Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice. Not only is the cliché flawed-preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work-but it can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping."
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
I'm fortunate to be in the position I'm a now. I manage a camera shop as my 9-5 and then shoot on side, both for fun and for clients. The job gives me a steady income, and some of the best networking you could ask for. It gives me access to brand reps to borrow and try out new gear, and of course employee gear purchases. Sometimes I now think I'm more into cameras than I am necessarily into photography, kind of like how people are so into cars but not necessarily like racing, or building computers but not necessarily really competitive with gaming.
I shot on the side as pretty much my sole income when I was in college (for a mostly unrelated degree). I do miss some of that lifestyle, but greatly prefer the stability and relative lack of stress I have now.
>1. A Part-Time Job Gives You a Guaranteed Regular Income
Definitely a huge thing I like.
>2. You'll Be Able to Filter the Bad Clients... 3. You'll Be Able to Demand Higher Rates of Pay
Definitely true for me, mainly because that first point. I don't have to worry about making ends meet, I can simply take on jobs that I want to, or at least are worth it financially.
>4. Having Less Time Actually Makes You More Productive
This one is totally dependent on the person. In my case, I totally agree. I've always been someone that performed better, and more focused, on a time crunch.
>5. Working in a Completely Different Industry to Photography Will Enhance Your Practice
Can't speak to this personally, but knowing how cameras / photography has changed me with respect to other hobbies / endeavors, I'd have to imagine it's certainly the case. My (limited) experience in other industries definitely does come up in photography from time to time. Being in a non-related field gives you tons of opportunities to advertise yourself as the person to go to if pictures are needed.
One of my favorite books on workplace / career happiness goes into this quite a lot (there's a lot of cool studies in it about happiness). A lot of people that make the jump to full time do so without proper experience or support and subsequently fail. It basically advocates that "follow your passion" is bad advice and that you should instead "follow what you're good at". That in many cases, you're better off doing what you're good at as a job, and keeping your passions as hobbies. But of course, once you get to the point where your skill and passion is for the same thing, do make the jump.
The product has to be outstanding before that becomes a real issue, in my opinion.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Don't agree with everything in this book by any stretch, but the core idea is a powerful one.
Do you have an undergraduate degree already? If not, I was under the impression that GI Bill only helps you with one degree. Considering an MBA requires you have an undergrad degree to apply and be accepted.. if you don't have that undergrad degree now, don't expect the government to pay. I could be talking out my ass on that though.
"Survive comfortable" will depend largely on the school and location. Private school vs public school, city vs college town. Further thoughts I have here... The price tag on your education does not entirely translate to value. Look at the school's brand and student/faculty base. The education is important, but you are paying largely to be a part of the 'network'. Some networks are more respected than others, and some are more helpful and readily willing to offer jobs to one another.
I don't know what your living situation has been like while you've been in but if it has been the barracks life with restrictive rules be weary of once you come out and get that freedom to do as you please back. While I don't mean you deny yourself certain pleasures, just don't go crazy. I'm sure you know how it is to be on leave with all that pay sitting in the bank... just waiting for you to get home and play with it.
What was your job in the military? What did you think of that job? Is it something you could see yourself doing for a career? You stand in a strong position if it is something more technically oriented, or science based. You've got something a lot of college students around you won't have. EXPERIENCE! If you can expand on to the educational part of the field you stand to be in a great position out of school. And on that note, look at getting a degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field. This as an undergrad and later augmented with an MBA would give you a strong bridge to the business side if it something you'd desire later on.
And here's a book I wish would've came out before I went college, hah. So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport TLDR - Find your passion is bad advice and potentially detrimental. People love what they do when they're good at it.
Hope this was helpful and sorry if it sounds more like a ramble. Just two cents from a 23 year old that has been out of school for a year
Edit: Continue to stay away from debt.
I had the same thing as you haooen to myself, love bartending and cooking and its definitly my passion but as a software engineer I have a higher chance of doing things I really want to.
I would suggest reading: https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
I'd highly recommend the book "So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love". I was feeling pretty burnt out in my job, and while this book didn't completely take that away, it helped me to see that a great option for finding more meaning/autonomy/enjoyment in work is to accumulate "career capital" and exchange it for desirable outcomes for yourself. Since reading this, I've started taking classes, I'm going for my Master's, and I'm going to work my way to more autonomy in a few years' time (hopefully). Now, my days feel less like a drag, because I've got a goal I'm working towards.
Good luck!
Not sure if it will answer you questions, but you might be interested in this book. I have yet to read it but I've heard good things.
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Read the books Choose Yourself and So Good They Can't Ignore You for your answer. Trust me, it'll be well worth it. :)
I'm 30 and back in South Korea doing YouTube videos while teaching. I had my chance in 2012 to do this but I screwed up due to a shite mindset. Now that i'm older and wiser, i'm doing things EVERY DAY.
Its arguable that we are all confused about where we truly wanna go as often what we want and what we do are in contradiction. So you are not alone.
I would recommend three things for you:
Finally, use school and exams as way to measure you performance and focus on learning by yourself as that is the beat way to grow
For anyone interested in more detail I recommend this book
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1455509124/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472747141&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=so+good+they+cant+ignore+you
I should have mentioned that I was optimizing for environmental impact and health, not just money and time. Also, I thought I worded things with enough caveats to prevent point-by-point refutations, but since I seem to have failed, I will make some general comments about your reply.
When it comes to EA, there are two options: either work for/found an EA org, or donate money. I would consider volunteering for events to be a relatively minor activity. Most people won't have the skills to directly contribute yet, so while they're building up those skills with that "second job" I mentioned, they'll be working a normal job and donating money. In this case, it would make sense to pick the job with the highest earning potential. Assuming a suitable amount of grit, humanities majors can go to a boot-camp and go into web development and STEM majors can go through a few programming textbooks and work for a major tech company. The major bottleneck comes from being able to actually program versus being able to pass tests in a CS class. As Cal Newport says, taking the time to get good at a skill is the differentiating factor between having your pick of jobs and hoping you get a job at all. Luckily, according to the BLS, software developers and web developers will see greater than average job growth, so even if you aren't in the top 1% of your field, you will still be able to land a job. And yes, as I stated earlier, not everyone is going to become a programmer, but it's definitely worth a hard look.
I agree that getting a used car makes sense for some people, but given that most trips don't consist of a trunk full of groceries and filled passenger seats, I would seriously consider the alternative. Also, fast food and delivered food is vastly inferior to Soylent and other meal replacements, in terms of time-efficiency as well as health. Also, I'm slightly horrified that you mentioned the two options that run counter to the EA values of concern for the environment and concern for animals.
The video I linked to earlier talks about the tax benefits of real estate. Given that the real estate market is highly illiquid, this also means that it's not an efficient market at all. That's why you have house flippers and companies like Fundrise. The other main investment vehicle people think of besides real estate is stocks, but leveraged ETFs only allow you to leverage your money 2-3x , which is a far cry from the nearly 30x from real estate. Given that real estate appreciates in pace with inflation and the fact that you have greater leverage, this beats out the 7% average growth of stocks. I would argue that the reason why people choose other types of investments is a lack of knowledge. If you didn't know, for instance, that there is a process to landlording, you would deem the task of renting out and managing properties to be unfeasible. So, far from being tied down to one place, if another job opportunity comes up, you can just rent out your current residence and get a mortgage for a house in that new location. Now, I would not consider real estate to be a "hugely leveraged bet." You are buying and holding an asset that pays for itself in 30 years. That's it. Seems straightforward to me. If you're worried about illiquidity, HELOCs completely mitigate that concern. Of course, this whole real estate thing seems risky if you're bad at managing your money, but if you can do that, then the numbers check out.
Now, even though donating now has long run effects, the compounding returns of real estate dictate that it would be prudent that allocate a nonzero amount of disposable income towards real estate. Fermi estimate. How big that amount is will depend on how confident you are in the potential for future EA opportunities that have a greater impact than the options available today. Given that we have just started founding high-impact charities within the past few years, I would argue that the number of higher-impact-than-AMF charities will only grow.
Thanks for the reply :)
I think you misunderstood me in some aspects so I'll make my points again.
I think one of the best career advices I found here:
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
So I'm trying apply it in real life. I (think I) know what my weak/strong sides are. I don't have GF, don't plan to have kid, I won't be healthy forever.
If we speak about "rough" people - I mean I'm shy INTP, so I have moral objections before I kill mosquito :lol: Being some kind of "pusher"/"older friend"/manager (it all depends how you define managing/delegating tasks or what kind school of management you support) could be problem for me. I don't feel better than them - most of blue collars were smarter than me, because they entered job market earlier :lol:
Cal Newport wrote an excellent book on the subject of finding rewarding work.
Nearly all lucrative careers involve doing something that is considered "crappy" or "hard" by most people. The reason that technical jobs pay so well is that few people are willing to slog it out to the end. There's a scarcity of engineers, so they get to command a hefty salary.
Some of the people who stuck it out to the end of a technical program are there because what other people see as a hardship, they see as something genuinely enjoyable. While some people look at a textbook and see a boring slog, others can look at a textbook and see a collection of interesting mental exercises and puzzles. But some of the people who made it through are people who have a high tolerance for discomfort, and were willing to frontload their stress: these people decided they'd rather tolerate 4 years of academic stress instead of have to cope with potentially decades of economic and career stress struggling to get a job in a less-lucrative field.
The best of all worlds is when you can find that job that nobody wants because it "sucks" but you actually think it's awesome because you're in some way abnormal. For example, a lot of people are terrified by public speaking, but I personally love it and find it energizing, which has led me into a lot of jobs that surprisingly had little competition. (A lot of this took the form of sales "jobs" working as a one-man sales force for my own entrepreneurial exploits.)
P.S. - I ended up going through college to get an engineering degree and decided to go my own way (start my own business) after college. But personally, I'm actually happy that I got the degree. For one thing, it gave me a good deal of peace of mind, knowing that if my business ever failed, I had the option of going into the workforce as a junior engineer and having a relatively safe shot at a reasonable living. For another thing, it helped for me to reinforce that my entrepreneurship was something I was doing because I wanted to do it, not because I had to do it. But for some people, spending 4 years and tens of thousands of dollars on a safety net might not be the best move.
Oh, and BTW, academic probation isn't a huge deal in and of itself if you aren't looking to go into a graduate program. Sometimes, it's a symptom of a real problem, and it might be a wake-up call if your approach to academics just isn't working, but like any mistake it's something that you can learn from, and hopefully not repeat.
Link to Cal Newport's latest book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124. Also, his blog "Study Hacks" is pretty good.
https://www.amazon.ca/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
I have these books in my wishlist. She may like them:
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose
So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
I highly recommend reading (or listening with audible) to a couple books that I listened to when I was questioning my job and career choices earlier this year. They aren’t silver bullets, but they’ll definitely offer sound advice on how to actively work to improve your situation.
If you don’t have much free time to read, like me, try listening to the audiobook on your commute or at lunch. Just find a time and place that makes sense for you.
I hope those books help you as much as they did me.
*Think and Grow Rich
Read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Ca să-ţi răspund la întrebare, eu aş alege informatica. Dacă te pregăteşti pentru o carieră în informatică, eu zic să te concetrezi pe ea. Înţeleg că tu vrei să fii pragmatic şi să alegi disciplina care îţi va asigura o notă mai mare fără prea mult efort, dar cred că atitudinea asta nu e întotdeauna benefică. Informatica e un domeniu dificil şi ca atare eu m-aş folosi de BAC ca de o unealtă prin care îmi pot evalua în mod onest cunoştinţele. Cine ştie, poate descoperi că informatica nu e pentru tine. Nu vreau să te descurajez, din contră eu sunt genul de om care nu crede în "talent". Cred în disciplină, sacrificiu şi efort. Ce rost are să dai BAC-ul la fizică, să intri în facultate cu o medie mare şi apoi să realizezi că nu te descurci sau că e prea greu şi nu eşti dispus să depui efortul necesar?
(side note: Învaţă algoritmică şi structuri de date, orice programator pe jumătate decent poate să înveţe un limbaj de programare)
Asta nu are legătură cu BAC-ul, dar din moment ce te pregăteşti de o carieră în IT (plec de la asumpţia ca vrei să faci programare), mă gândeam că nu ţi-ar strica câteva sfaturi:
(feel free to disregard everything I say, it's your life, don't let a guy on the Internet tell you how you should live).
Scuze că m-am întins atât, sper să ajute.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481642008&sr=1-1&keywords=so+good+they+can%27t+ignore+you
I recommend it when you are feeling burnout.
Acerca de la "pasión", checa este libro que curiosamente alguien posteo aquí en r/Mexico :')
https://www.amazon.com.mx/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Yo estaba igual que tu, pero este libro me ayudo!
¿Ya le has comentado a tu mamá cuáles son tus metas?, ¿o qué quieres hacer?
There's this book called So Good They Can't Ignore You, you should check it out. It basically talks about how skills trumps passion in the quest for work.
You can't really control bad coworkers or bad bosses (which will ruin any job no matter how much you love the work).
But you should read "So Good They Can't Ignore You" (Amazon link) The author proves that the commonly held belief of "follow your passion" is actually really bad advise. You can find happiness in about any career as long as you gain unique skills, have autonomy, and are working on something meaningful/impactful.
2009 B.S. in Psychology here. I was the same way. I loved learning about Psychology, but never wanted to go into it as a profession.
I wouldn't worry so much about finding something directly related to Psychology. I haven't had a job yet that required a degree in Psych and I probably never will. The most important thing is that you graduate and make connections.
Every step I've taken in my career has been made through connections. Your network is more important than your degree.
Also, a friend of mine recently led me to So Good They Can't Ignore You. It describes a method of finding the right career in a way that makes sense, I think.
Good luck, fellow Psych major!
This might not be the kind of thing you're looking for, but I'd definitely recommend this book for college students. Seriously. It changed the trajectory of my life.
bootcamps are helpful in building your professional network, teaching you modern web development practices, and learning how to market yourself as an engineer. Is that worth ~$12,000? maybe, maybe not. It definitely works for some people, though, and usually for people who are motivated and excited about starting a new career.
...and you don't sound that motivated or excited. One book that I wish I had when I was going through my post-college meandering was So Good They Can't Ignore You, which is one of the best big picture career books out there (admittedly, that's faint praise). The basic premise is that the advice of "follow your passion" is mostly bullshit, and that hard-earned craftsmanship is the key to long-term professional success. As someone who's been working for now for ~10 years, his advice really resonates with me.
Check out this book that might help you in the transition and think about your skill set and where you might want to go:
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
The author has a good blog as well (http://calnewport.com/blog/), currently focused on "Deep Work" (his newest book).
What are you good at?
A friend recently posted a book to my FB wall. The gist was "do what you are good at not what your passion is" You can be passionate about listening to music, but that won't pay even minimum wage.
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
You should read So Good They Can't Ignore You
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
I've been a product lead on public-benefit tech for ~10 years. We [work on things like this] (http://devsummit.aspirationtech.org/index.php?title=2012_Agenda) day to day. We build neat things, sometimes well. You should join us!
Here's some groups to get your brain working:
I worked with some of the above. You'll notice that all of these involve doing straight up software engineering, and it just happens to serve someone other than wealthy first-worlders.
You might look at this book for some general guidance on how to set your own path through the world:
Be good at something!
I just started reading a book called "So good they can't ignore you", the author's premise is that "Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before."
100% true. This is not a thing to wonder about. Source: https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Disruptive technologies move more slowly through the government because there are no alternatives - there's no Uber that can replace city hall itself. Individual jobs and technologies can be automated, but the structure is slow to change. However, you can't rely on a government job to shield you from the consequences of automation. The economy's going to take gargantuan, disruptive hits in the near future, and government positions are affected directly by the economy.
Consider that the government accounted for one third of all job cuts in 2011. After the 2008 recession, the government cut over 750,000 jobs in 2009 alone.
If you want a great job that allows you to make an impact and have a safe income, you of course need to consider your industry. However, the only way to truly insulate yourself is to develop skills that are valuable. There will surely be economic turmoil in the future, and you need to make sure you're valuable enough to be able to navigate those choppy waters. Become an expert in doing things that people need, and you'll stay in the game far longer than people who chose simply to get into a "safe industry". Checkout Cal Newport's book "So good they can't ignore you" for more in depth advice on how to pick a career and produce immense amounts of value.
TL;DR: No industry is safe. Regardless of industry though, top experts will be the last to be automated. Get great at something and you'll be alright.
That's okay, it was a formative experience. No sense beating yourself up about the past as long as you can learn from it.
It's good to keep all of these FIRE principles in mind, but don't obsess over it. Look for jobs that will help you gain new skills, specialize in something useful, and open more doors than you could have before. I recommend the book So Good They Can't Ignore You to help guide your search.
Specifically, you should sit down with every person you know who has a full-time job and ask them:
Rinse and repeat. There are so many millions of different jobs in the world that you can't possibly learn about just from reading. Your primary purpose here is to learn about different jobs and how people got them, but this kind of networking will also help you get a job should you decide to apply to any of the places these people work. Networking works best when you aren't asking people for anything--but there's no reason you can't go back to them weeks or months later and say, "Hey, our conversation really inspired me. I noticed department X is hiring for position Y. Do you happen to know anyone over there I could speak with to learn more about it?" etc.
PLEASE read this book, it really changed the way I think about making career decisions. (Guy who wrote it has a Ph.D from MIT and is a professor at Georgetown.) http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Just because someone is full of themselves doesn't mean you can't learn from them. And it's not tailored to exactly to being a college student but I found he goes out of his way to make the over-arching principles clear.
I'm a college student too in a field fairly similar to yours. I don't know if you're a big reader, but this is another great book that has a lot of research into people who get to the top of their fields versus people who stay mediocre. It was written by a guy who has a phd in comp sci from MIT and wrote a book while doing his dissertation: http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
Just a recommendation, best of luck with it.
What works in the real world is specialization. Learn one thing really well that people are willing to pay for.
Focus on one skill that is useful in new economy. Web development is one of those skills. There are others but web development is the one I'm most familiar with because that's what I do and I've researched the industry.
Why does this strategy work? Because of the 10,000 hour rule.
Here are great books on this subject:
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
http://www.amazon.com/Talent-Overrated-Separates-World-Class-Performers-ebook/dp/B001HD8NZ8/
Also spend 1% of your time planning and 99% of your time doing. Why? Because planning is guessing.
https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1805-lets-just-call-plans-what-they-are-guesses
http://s3.amazonaws.com/37assets/svn/Rework-by-Jason-Fried-and-David-Heinemeier-Hansson-Excerpts.pdf
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2353
You're still in college? Then I would recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124
And sign up for /r/NoFap and similar subs for any possible habit that you've evaluated as not being helpful for a good life.
If you have extra time, invest it in yourself. Study so that your next test is 98% instead of a 95%. Review last years material so it doesn't float away from your memory. Just take your major seriously, college isn't for drinking or parties. It's for getting a good job and getting laid :)
If you need help, imagine that fapping or playing videogames is the evolutionary equivalent of the pussy dude who went to pick berries with the women while men went hunting. Which guy do you want to be?
Read So Good They Can't Ignore You. It covers a lot of the material discussed in this thread. Hopefully it'll help you out.
Yeah, almost exactly what Cal Newport found.
Read this: So Good They Can't Ignore You
The best advice I've read on the subject
https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124