Should Temperament Affect Job Choice? | Deep Questions With Cal Newport

00:00:00.000 | All right, what do we got here Matt?

00:00:02.000 | Matt says you've argued

00:00:05.040 | about not basing

00:00:07.680 | your career decisions on passions

00:00:10.180 | But what about one's temperament specifically under the big five personality model if one is low in

00:00:17.200 | Conscientiousness or particularly high in openness. How should that be considered to avoid getting into an ill-suited role?

00:00:24.320 | All right, so I put this back-to-back with Larry's question because they're both dealing with careers

00:00:29.240 | And they're both dealing with ideas for my book so good. They can't ignore you

00:00:32.560 | Now I think what's happening here again is

00:00:37.560 | Too strict of an interpretation of what I am talking about. So in so good. They can't ignore you. I

00:00:44.720 | reject what I called the passion hypothesis, which is this idea that the primary factor in

00:00:50.880 | Generate a feeling of fulfillment or passion in your career is matching the type of work you do to the pre-existing passion

00:00:58.800 | You can match your work successfully to what you're meant to do

00:01:02.180 | You will find your work fulfilling and if you get this match wrong, you won't

00:01:06.760 | That was a dominant hypothesis

00:01:09.720 | When I was writing so good, they can't ignore you. It is a dominant hypothesis today, though

00:01:14.800 | I would say not as strong now as it was back then. It's often summarized with the

00:01:19.720 | Axiom follow your passion. They argued that's wrong

00:01:25.720 | Now Matt, I think you're taking that argument and you're pushing it farther to say, okay, nothing nothing really matters

00:01:31.200 | Nothing intrinsic at all matters for whether or not you're gonna like your job and that's actually not true

00:01:35.760 | I'm pushing back against a strong form of the matching hypothesis that a match to a pre-existing passion is all that matters

00:01:42.640 | And I'm saying no. No, it's more complicated than that. The choice of job is not trivial

00:01:48.680 | But it is not the single

00:01:51.680 | Determinant factor of whether or not you end up passionate about your work the real important stuff happens after you choose your job

00:01:56.480 | Do you build rare and valuable skills like we talked about with the last?

00:02:00.600 | question

00:02:02.480 | Are you applying those rare and valuable skills as leverage to move your career towards things that resonate and away from things that don't?

00:02:07.960 | Towards your ideal lifestyle and away from traps that you want to avoid. Are you crafting your career in a way that is

00:02:15.600 | Consistent and complements your vision of a deep life if you're doing this that's very hard work

00:02:20.560 | It takes time and strategy over many years. That is where real passion grows

00:02:24.360 | The actual initial choice of the job is just the first small step in that long journey. That's really what I'm arguing

00:02:31.200 | however

00:02:33.840 | Making that first small step choosing what job you want to do. That's not throwing a dart at

00:02:38.280 | A job listing board and say it doesn't matter at all what job I have you still want to think about it

00:02:43.860 | So your temperament yes, it matters pick a job that's better suited for your temperament

00:02:48.880 | Do you like to be around people? Do you like to be alone? Sure

00:02:52.440 | You see your personality matters skills. You already have matters if you're coming out of school with a math degree. You're pretty good at it

00:02:59.100 | Well, that's going to get you some career capital much faster than if you become a yoga instructor

00:03:04.560 | So pre-existing skills matter a general interest in the field sure that matters

00:03:08.720 | You know like I'm interested in academia seems romantic to me. So, you know

00:03:15.320 | That is a mark in favor of going to graduate school all that stuff matters

00:03:20.360 | so use what you have when making your choice, but keep in mind that there may be many different jobs that make sense for you to

00:03:27.900 | pursue and

00:03:29.560 | Once you make the choices what happens next is ultimately decide whether or not you get

00:03:33.040 | Fulfilling out of it. So Matt you can take your temperament into account take your skills into account interest into account

00:03:38.520 | I'm a big believer in

00:03:40.760 | Looking at what would the opportunities be if and when I get really good at this job?

00:03:45.120 | and do I see down the line opportunities that are really going to give me a lot of

00:03:49.880 | Control over my life or open up the things that are really important to my ideal lifestyle. That's all critical

00:03:55.840 | Don't just throw a dart

00:03:56.600 | But don't think that the choice by itself is all that it takes to love your work and don't over sweat that choice

00:04:02.860 | There's usually many right answers. The issue is not I'm going to choose the wrong job

00:04:06.800 | The real issue for most people is I'm going to do the wrong things

00:04:10.840 | Once I have a job

00:04:13.360 | All right, I think we've had a bunch of men in a row so I have some women here

00:04:19.600 | There's three in a row. I did this by accident. But actually we had a run of men. They'll have a run of

00:04:25.740 | Women asking questions. So let's actually get to some reasonable questions then

00:04:29.880 | [outro music]

Should Temperament Affect Job Choice? | Deep Questions With Cal Newport

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