What do you think?
Rate this book
Career Advice for Uniquely Ambitious People: A decision-making guide for uncommon success
This is a short, no-bullshit collection of counterintuitive career advice. It's not likely to be advice you'll hear from anyone else.
It is only about an hour to read, but the concepts will ring in your ears for years.
[From the Book's Introduction]
Many people have been incredibly generous to me throughout the first decade of my career. To return that good karma, I try to pay it forward… to be open and available for people who ask me for insight or advice or just have questions about where to go next.
I find myself having many conversations about career decisions. Recently, many of these conversations have repeating many of the same pieces of advice.
Over the years I’ve gotten enough positive feedback that publishing these thoughts seems worthwhile. After our conversations I’m often told that this advice was unique, counterintuitive, and valuable. That is a high compliment. And if more people would think the same, then I should put these thought somewhere more scalable and accessible.
So, I’ve written them down here.
It is only about an hour to read, but the concepts will ring in your ears for years.
[From the Book's Introduction]
Many people have been incredibly generous to me throughout the first decade of my career. To return that good karma, I try to pay it forward… to be open and available for people who ask me for insight or advice or just have questions about where to go next.
I find myself having many conversations about career decisions. Recently, many of these conversations have repeating many of the same pieces of advice.
Over the years I’ve gotten enough positive feedback that publishing these thoughts seems worthwhile. After our conversations I’m often told that this advice was unique, counterintuitive, and valuable. That is a high compliment. And if more people would think the same, then I should put these thought somewhere more scalable and accessible.
So, I’ve written them down here.
36 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 20, 2018
About the author
Eric Jorgenson
11 books734 followersEric Jorgenson is an entrepreneur, writer, and investor. He is on the founding team of Zaarly, and has been publishing online since 2014. His blog has educated and entertained over a million readers.
Eric is on a quest to create (and eat) the perfect sandwich. He tweets at @ericjorgenson and publishes new pieces and projects on ejorgenson.com/blog
Eric is on a quest to create (and eat) the perfect sandwich. He tweets at @ericjorgenson and publishes new pieces and projects on ejorgenson.com/blog
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 29, 2020
My take-away in a sentence: Find great managers/mentors to create value for, while creating fast feedback loops in a specialized industry.
January 16, 2021
Short read, but full of no-BS advice.
Few quotes:
"If you want to learn fast and become smart, respected, and successful quickly you have to have something at stake.. You need to have a reward for victories and feel pain for failures."
"That's how the Reciprocation Bias works. If you sacrifice some time and effort for them, they are more likely to do the same - as long as you're not demanding about it."
"Humans always place too much importance on observable evidence - usually because it's all there is to go on (or it's the only evidence easy to find and we're lazy). We know that someone who works for Google isn't necessarily happy and successful and awesome... but assuming they are is a mental shortcut that we take because it is easy."
Few quotes:
"If you want to learn fast and become smart, respected, and successful quickly you have to have something at stake.. You need to have a reward for victories and feel pain for failures."
"That's how the Reciprocation Bias works. If you sacrifice some time and effort for them, they are more likely to do the same - as long as you're not demanding about it."
"Humans always place too much importance on observable evidence - usually because it's all there is to go on (or it's the only evidence easy to find and we're lazy). We know that someone who works for Google isn't necessarily happy and successful and awesome... but assuming they are is a mental shortcut that we take because it is easy."
October 5, 2021
Like the author says it is very short and no-bullshit. The points are well expressed. It is a 15-20 min read. The content is good and it would be an amazing read for someone starting out their career.
However some examples could help. E.g. Naval also likes to keep it short but he backs them up with examples from his own life or outside. Examples can make the point clear. I found very less examples in this book.
This could be a blog post than a book.
However some examples could help. E.g. Naval also likes to keep it short but he backs them up with examples from his own life or outside. Examples can make the point clear. I found very less examples in this book.
This could be a blog post than a book.
November 21, 2023
This book offers a refreshing take on success with its concise and impactful approach, akin to a well-crafted blog post rather than a verbose tome. The standout chapter, "Find Tight, Fast Feedback Loops," is a game-changer. This chapter made me deleted one of my goal, which is to take an apprenticeship under a politician/Minister. Some notes I took:
- The book delves into the ambiguity of feedback loops, using examples like brand advertising where the cause-and-effect relationship is murky and unpredictable. Some professions, like consulting projects, lack observable feedback loops altogether. The author draws a sharp contrast with programming, where a failed program provides a clear understanding of the cause (the code written by the programmer sucks).
- Faster feedback loops are inherently more clear, because the faster a feedback loop happens, the less time there is for interference from the environment. Programs run quickly, chemical reactions happen immediately, you get punched if you let your guard down.
- Faster feedback loops also allow for much quicker iteration. The ability to see an effect immediately and adjust your very next cause in order to see the results of that experiment are incredibly effective. Door-to-door sales provides very fast feedback loops. Long-cycle enterprise sales has much slower feedback loops.
- You never run faster than when there’s a lion on your heels, and you never fight harder than when there’s no other way out. If you want to learn fast and become smart, respected, and successful quickly you have to have something at stake. You need to have a reward for victories and feel pain for failures. Find a way to put some skin in the game (Taleb's idea). Enough that it would sting to lose, but not disadvantage you too much (bankrupt or reputation destroyed publicly) to keep you from playing another round!
- Most things in life have a dynamic range in which average to best is at most 2:1. But the best CEOs, software developers, or salespeople might make 50 or 100 times more than average. When you combine a job with being an Entrepreneur or Celebrity, the ratio is no longer 2:1 because they have leverages (as Naval listed; people working for you, code and media). For example, Gordon Ramsay combines chef + media. Another example is an entrepreneur doctor with their own clinic that hires other doctors.
- The book delves into the ambiguity of feedback loops, using examples like brand advertising where the cause-and-effect relationship is murky and unpredictable. Some professions, like consulting projects, lack observable feedback loops altogether. The author draws a sharp contrast with programming, where a failed program provides a clear understanding of the cause (the code written by the programmer sucks).
- Faster feedback loops are inherently more clear, because the faster a feedback loop happens, the less time there is for interference from the environment. Programs run quickly, chemical reactions happen immediately, you get punched if you let your guard down.
- Faster feedback loops also allow for much quicker iteration. The ability to see an effect immediately and adjust your very next cause in order to see the results of that experiment are incredibly effective. Door-to-door sales provides very fast feedback loops. Long-cycle enterprise sales has much slower feedback loops.
- You never run faster than when there’s a lion on your heels, and you never fight harder than when there’s no other way out. If you want to learn fast and become smart, respected, and successful quickly you have to have something at stake. You need to have a reward for victories and feel pain for failures. Find a way to put some skin in the game (Taleb's idea). Enough that it would sting to lose, but not disadvantage you too much (bankrupt or reputation destroyed publicly) to keep you from playing another round!
- Most things in life have a dynamic range in which average to best is at most 2:1. But the best CEOs, software developers, or salespeople might make 50 or 100 times more than average. When you combine a job with being an Entrepreneur or Celebrity, the ratio is no longer 2:1 because they have leverages (as Naval listed; people working for you, code and media). For example, Gordon Ramsay combines chef + media. Another example is an entrepreneur doctor with their own clinic that hires other doctors.
June 20, 2018
Interesting, not necessarily new advice
Advice in this short read is not necessarily new, if you have a few years of experience or have some kind of mentoring relationship going on in your job with someone more experienced than you. The ordering of the pieces of advice Eric has might be interesting to some, but for that, just take a look at the book contents - no need to buy it
Advice in this short read is not necessarily new, if you have a few years of experience or have some kind of mentoring relationship going on in your job with someone more experienced than you. The ordering of the pieces of advice Eric has might be interesting to some, but for that, just take a look at the book contents - no need to buy it
August 5, 2019
A whisper that force me awake.
It is so short to have anything new in the book. Some simple mental models applied to career decision. I give it 5 stars not because of the content, it is because the emotion that force me to think a lot.
To me it is a whisper, a wake up call that force me to rethink my whole career, to question alot about my past choices.
It is so short to have anything new in the book. Some simple mental models applied to career decision. I give it 5 stars not because of the content, it is because the emotion that force me to think a lot.
To me it is a whisper, a wake up call that force me to rethink my whole career, to question alot about my past choices.
December 25, 2020
Few counterintuitive insights making it worthwhile to read
To the point Insights without the fluffy and the stretched out narrative. Highly recommend the individuals who are in their early career.
Could have been better if there was a bit more of of those insights.
Nevertheless, glad to have read it and thankful.
To the point Insights without the fluffy and the stretched out narrative. Highly recommend the individuals who are in their early career.
Could have been better if there was a bit more of of those insights.
Nevertheless, glad to have read it and thankful.
November 24, 2024
Can resonate with it
Amazing straight forward advice. Helped me validating my path. I o ly read this because it was written by Eric, very valuable information from a person who has spent hours studying the most brilliant entrepreneurs of our time
Amazing straight forward advice. Helped me validating my path. I o ly read this because it was written by Eric, very valuable information from a person who has spent hours studying the most brilliant entrepreneurs of our time
January 9, 2025
Not much here
Honestly felt like a poorly put together collection of vague FB posts. Not even all good ones. Maybe good to put in front of middle/high schoolers outside their counselors office.
Honestly felt like a poorly put together collection of vague FB posts. Not even all good ones. Maybe good to put in front of middle/high schoolers outside their counselors office.
May 26, 2020
Most Value per page.
Definitely recommend!
The book with the most Value per page.
Clear, to the point, you will be surprise how much of original view in the book
Definitely recommend!
The book with the most Value per page.
Clear, to the point, you will be surprise how much of original view in the book
January 14, 2021
Dope read
Concise, straight to the point. If you're reading this review, then you're interested and you have free time. Take 30min and just read it.
Concise, straight to the point. If you're reading this review, then you're interested and you have free time. Take 30min and just read it.
July 18, 2021
A good perspective
Very short. Like several good blog posts. Good contrarian perspective on finding a good fit over social acceptance. Worth brief time spent.
Very short. Like several good blog posts. Good contrarian perspective on finding a good fit over social acceptance. Worth brief time spent.
April 17, 2025
Pretty good, wish it was longer
September 24, 2024
Eric so the perfect intersection of smart and succinct. Gives career advice applicable to any stage of your career.
October 10, 2021
Interesting perspective: most of our professional success is determined by our manager.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews