So Good They Can't Ignore You

In a nut shell, don’t do what you’re passionate about, do what you’re good at and let the passion come. The first line in the book is “Follow your passion is dangerous advice.”

The essence of the book is that to follow your passion, you must first work to become an expert in whatever field you choose. Too often we pursue passions before expertise and wonder why we fail. His argument is go deeper into a field first and it will be come your passion. “Working right trumps finding the right work.”

Newport argues four rules: (1) don’t follow your passion; (2) be so good they can’t ignore you; (3) the importance of control; (4) think small, act big.

Choke

This book has several good tips that I wish to put into practice and improve my test scores, especially for grad school. The key thing that I’ve learned from this book is that being knowledgeable and being able to take a test are not the same thing. Test-taking can be improved! “Choking is suboptimal performance, not just poor performance.” People choke under pressure because they worry.

Here are the tips:

• Journal - reaffirm my self-worth by writing about my many interests and activities that can promote feelings of self-worth. Will also write about my worries regarding upcoming exams
• Concept map - especially my own individuality and multifacetedness.
• Meditate - especially with verses and thoughts about worry. I want to train my brain to acknowledge worries and then discard them
• Think positively about myself - I want to stop negative thinking about myself and picture my success.
• Consider and discuss beta-blockers with my PCP to minimize physical reactions of stress/anxiety
• I will pause and come back to difficult questions during an exam
• Realize that I have a distinct advantage over other students because of my age and experiences
• Study questions - practice timed questions regularly
• Write down all steps during questions and problems
• Create and seek out mnemonics for the info that I need to learn
• practice under stress or similar conditions of taking tests
• focus on the the positive and eliminate negative self-talk