So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

The job doesn’t give you enough opportunity to develop scarce and prized skills.If your current job has any of the following factors, you should quit and look elsewhere:

There are certain jobs and situations that inhibit your ability to amass career capital. (Shortform note: To learn more about deliberate practice, read our summary of Anders Ericsson’s book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise.) When to Stick It Out and When to Quit

For example, musician Jordan Tice practices the guitar for hours a day.

It takes a long time to develop a skill, so you need to stick with it. Diligence refers to focusing on developing the skill you’ve chosen and not being distracted by other pursuits. Step #5: Stay focused and exercise diligence. He also quizzed himself on the important definitions in the paper and checked his answers for feedback.

For example, the author forced himself to understand a difficult paper by studying it for one hour at a time.

You need to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and be told what you’re doing right and wrong in order to improve. Step #4: Seek out both appropriate challenge and immediate feedback.

For example, TV writer Alex decided that “good” meant writing a script that an agent was willing to take on.Once you’ve decided what skill you’re going to develop, you need to decide how good you have to get at it. For example, cleantech venture capitalist Mike studied at Stanford, which gave him the opportunity to work on projects with Stanford professors.It’s fastest and easiest to develop skills in areas you already have a head start in. Step #2: Determine which skill or skills you want to develop.

So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport