I’ve been a big fan of Cal Newport ever since my initial introduction to him via CGP Grey and CJ Chilvers.
The first book I read was So Good They Can’t Ignore You. I was completely smitten by his “career capital” model. He argues that constantly refining and honing the your skills is a better route than “following your passion” for getting the things you want out of a good job (autonomy, flexibility, pay, etc).
I quickly followed up with his more recent books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. I quite agree with his concerns about constant distractions in our modern hyper connected age. It’s one thing for children to flit about from one thing to another all day, but damn, we be grown ups.
This podcast cements a trend that I noticed a couple weeks ago. I’m now listening to younger folks. I’m pretty sure Jordan Harbinger and Hank Green are both a year younger than me and Cal Newport mentioned he’s only 37, so he’s three or four years younger than I am.
Being in your early forties is an interesting place. I’m still the young guy in my office and most principals at the firms who work for me are also a bit older. However I also have developed a cadre with younger professionals that I’ve come to know over the past few years.
Just the other day, I called one of my former interns for some advice about walking jobsites. The dude is sharp and works hard, so I respect his opinion, especially since he’s completed construction administration on a couple large projects, something I’ve never done.
This an interesting place. The torch hasn’t yet been handed to me, and I’m already handing it off to the next generation.
I believe they call this middle age.
But hey, enough about me. This podcast is a nice weekly question and answer show that discusses technology, work, and the deep life (without going woo woo).
It’s only a few episodes in, so Cal is still finding his grounding, but it’s a very promising podcast and I hope he sticks around for a while, even though I’m a little bit jealous of his hard earned success.