{"id":14433,"date":"2022-08-21T08:14:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-21T16:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=14433"},"modified":"2022-08-22T04:32:45","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T12:32:45","slug":"key-career-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2022\/08\/21\/key-career-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"The Key to Career Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first of four lessons drawn from Cal Newport and my course, Top Performer<\/a>. Next week, we are reopening the course to a new group of professionals who want to excel in their careers.<\/em><\/p>\n

How do you find work you truly love? Not just work that pays well, but work that keeps your interest and is genuinely compelling?<\/p>\n

The most common answer to this question revolves around choice. A great career comes from following your passion. That means sitting down, thinking about what you really love to do, and then finding the courage to chase your dreams.<\/p>\n

The only problem is\u2026 most of us don\u2019t have passions that neatly correspond to job titles. As Cal Newport argues in his book, So Good They Can\u2019t Ignore You<\/em>, the innate passions people seldom lead to viable or compelling careers. You might have a passion for collecting stamps, but pursuing it full-time is hardly a reasonable career path.<\/p>\n

A better way to think about this question is in terms of career capital<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Career capital is what you bring to the table for your clients, customers and employers. If you have something valuable to offer, you have more options for bargaining for something good in return.<\/p>\n

Consider the careers of two different writers. One has best-selling books and is in demand as a speaker. Another has trouble getting freelance work published. Both are doing the same work, but the first author has more career capital. That means she not only makes more money, but she also has more leverage for other choices. She can be pickier about which projects she works on\u2014and take more time off from writing too.<\/p>\n

The importance of career capital holds true across professions. The programmer who is more productive can better negotiate promotions, vacation time or which projects they work on. The accountant with specialized expertise can bill more and take fewer clients. The designer with a popular portfolio can choose which projects to take on.<\/p>\n

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What is Career Capital?<\/h2>\n
\nListen to this article<\/small>
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