For those following Cal Newport, you might have heard that he started a podcast called “Deep Questions” to tackle the many queries he receives from readers. While trying out the first episode, I was intrigued to hear him tackle the question of life purpose.
In addressing this, Cal distinguishes between the 1980s and 1990s fairytale of:
- Define your passion & find the matching job or career
- Be happy in life
and the ‘deep life’ equivalent from Odysseus:
- Survive the hardships
- Get your life back in order (finances, health, etc.)
- Develop responsibility, service to others, humility, and gratitude
The latter is easier said than done, but it provides a slightly clearer framework for how to find purpose and meaning. Defining an exact passion and then magically finding the corresponding job is definitely fairytale for most, so why not put in the hard work described in Cal’s ‘deep life’ model?