Media 6: The Clarity of the Craftsman

“Irrespective of what type of work you do, the craftsman mindset is crucial for building a career you love.” (p.37)

I found this week’s reading to be fairly refreshing, especially considering the nature of the course and the industry that most of us are nervously eyeing off. In the reading, Cal Newport details the difference between what he describes as ‘the craftsman mindset’ and ‘the passion mindset’, emphasizing the craftsman’s mindset as his personal preference for a healthy work life.

Newport defines these terms simply, contending that “the craftsman mindset focuses on what you can offer the world, the passion mindset focuses instead on what the world can offer you.” (p.38) He makes it clear that most of us employ the passion mindset, and while I obviously can’t speak on behalf of most of us, I can speak on behalf of myself, and I know that during my 23 years on this Earth, I’ve had an immeasurable number of people tell me, in response to any career-related query, to ‘do what I love’.

The problem with this is, and this is getting personal now, is that outside of this (amazing, simply amazing) course, I’m passionate about acting, and I’ve even been lucky enough to be employed in this passion, which has only increased my love for it. However, as Newport points out, the passion mindset offers a “swamp of ambiguous and unanswerable questions” (p.39) as well as “chronic unhappiness” when something you particularly want doesn’t pan out. It seems an obvious idea to pursue something for the purpose of being “so good they can’t ignore you” (p.33), but (at least in the acting industry) you can really get swept up in what your career can do for you. Taking the time to hone your craft, to enjoy gaining experience and skills, is a fantastic take-away for the media industry, given that most of us will have jobs creating.