"If you don't produce, you won't thrive - no matter how skilled or talented you are."

-Cal Newport

In the course of becoming better and better at work, you’ll probably be awarded with more responsibility and autonomy as you go along.

This is great, because when you get to make your own hours, or spread a project over 6 months in any way you like, you’ll feel competent and more motivated...

When finding himself having to decide between a job at Microsoft, a professorship at Georgetown University, and a career as a full-time writer, Cal didn’t deliberate anxiously for weeks, which is what most people would have done, in order to not choose the wrong one.

Not buying into the my...

You have worked long and hard to gain the control you now love so much, so don’t trade it for more money.

Saying no to a raise will not only let you keep your hard earned control, it’ll probablyearn you the respe...

That’s because according to self determination theory , intrinsic motivation, which we often connect with passion and being satisfied at work, comes from three things:

1. Autonomy – some sense of control over y...

It’s the kind of practice that keeps you in a state of flow , where your work is hard enough to make you uncomfortable and forces you to learn, but not so much that frustration wins you over.

When you become a craftsman you’ll seek out...

The best non-fiction books are usually the ones where the author solves his or her own problem. This is exactly what Cal Newport did.

After developing a new mindset about work and passion to figure out his own career problems, he wrote down the entire c...

1. Don’t do what you love, but learn to love what you do.
2. Become a craftsman to collect the skills you need.
3. Say no to a raise to keep control of your work.

Cal says thatwhether you love your work or not is mostly based on expertise and experience.

He knew that all three career paths would start out rough initially, but that as long as he worked hard, practiced a lot an...

Yet, my advice has always been similar to Cal’s – stop thinking and start creating . There rings so much truth in this book, which will not only make you feel less pressured but also get your butt in gear. I keep re-reading parts...

The 25 year old recent graduate, who is faced with seemingly difficult career choices to make, the 35 year old, who wonders why she feels worse after her raise, and anyone who doesn’t spend part of his or her time creating just yet.

Sometimes this happens violently, like when Steve Jobs was degraded and assigned a dead project (the Mac, hmm…), but most times, it’ll be even worse.

A shiny reward will be dangled in front of you, like a company car, a raise or ...