Finding the Right Career: Passion, Talent, and Opportunity
- Passion
Only after experiencing the day-to-day grind and fully understanding the work should you talk about whether you truly love it. You can’t truly understand a job just by looking at it from the outside.
Loving a career is not just about loving the good parts. It’s also about whether you can live with the bad ones.
Choosing a job just for its halo, like fame, money, or because other people think it’s “cool”, will make you miserable.
The smartest choice is to love the work itself, to enjoy the daily tasks, and to see if you can get into a flow state. This not only makes going to work feel exciting every day but is also essential for achieving extraordinary results.
Try out all the jobs you’re interested in while you’re young. Then you can really figure out what you love.
- Talent
Talent is your built-in moat.
It lets you reach your goals more easily, quickly, and enjoyably.
Talent matters more than effort alone because there will always be people who are both talented and hardworking. If you don’t have the talent, it’s better to know it early and find another path.
The best way to find your talent is to try a bunch of things and stay observant, paying close attention to three things: your results, the feedback you get from others, and how you compare with others doing the same job. Ask yourself: What is hard for other people but easy for me?
- Opportunity
Pigs can even fly when the winds are strong. Macro trends outweigh individual effort. Find blue oceans and stay away from red oceans.
A wave of opportunity starts with a sudden tech breakthrough, a market explosion, or a policy shift, followed by a flood of capital and talent. Hopefully, we’ll have the foresight to see it coming and get in before all of that happens.
AI, equity, and social media are the three biggest sources of leverage for young people today.
Family resources, international background, and elite brand and network from top schools and companies are special bonus leverage for those who have them.
