In this episode we discuss why you should not follow your passion, the two biggest pitfalls people struggle with trying to build a career they love, the incredible importance of DEEP WORK, why deep work is so valuable and how we can cultivate it, as well as how you can structure your lifestyle to attain autonomy and mastery with Cal Newport. Cal is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, He previously earned his Ph.D. from MIT in 2009. Cal has authored several bestselling books including “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” and “Deep Work” both of which have received deep praise from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and many more. If you’re looking for some guidance as you plan your new year, listen to this episode! We discuss: Why following your passion is bad adviceThe 2 fundamental flaws of the idea that you should follow your passionThere’s a huge difference between what makes you enjoy a hobby and what makes you enjoy a professionThe core components of having a happy professional lifeIf we don't follow our passions, how do we end up with a job we are passionate about?The simple, but not easy, path to having a passionate careerImportance of building up rare and valuable skills by pursuing an apprecenticeship phaseHow to cultivate skills to attain leverage to get the autonomy and mastery that will make your work meaningfulThe right question you should ask if you are unsatisfied with your jobThe 2 biggest pitfalls people run into trying to find and build a career they are passionate aboutWhy you need career capital and how to cultivate itThere are many many paths you can take that could lead to a passionate careerWe go deep on the concept of DEEP WORKWe discuss why deep work is increasingly both valuable and rareHow you can produce at an elite level while working fewer total hoursHow Deep Work is a meta skill that fuels other skills Attention residue and how it can crush your cognitive abilityWhy Deep work requires zero distraction. A single glance at an inbox or social media account can disrupt an entire deep work sessionThe importance of scheduling deep work far in advance on your calendarWhy everyone is an artist, and how that changes what work you should focus on The danger of focuses on “taxes and paint”Deep work is a SKILL not a HABIT and it gets better with practiceHow to stretch your ability to concreteLifestyle changes you can implement that create the foundation for deep focus and deep workHow to break the cycle of addiction to novel stimuli Why you should schedule all your deep work on your calendar ahead of timeExercises that you can implement right now to train your concentrationWhy Cal recommends that you should embrace boredomYour deep mental addiction to new stimulus and how you can break it Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.