Benjamin Todd

In the chapter on high-impact jobs, we saw this in action with areas like research and advocacy.

In research, for instance, the top 0.1% of papers receive 1,000 times more citations than the median.

These are areas where the outcomes are particularly skewed, but our review of the evidence suggests that the best people in almost any field have significantly more output than the typical person.

The more complex the domain, the more significant the effect, so it's especially noticeable in jobs like research, software engineering, and entrepreneurship.

Now, some of these differences are just due to luck.

Even if everyone were an equally good fit, there could still be big differences in outcomes just because some people happen to get lucky while others don't.

However, some component is almost certainly due to skill.

This means that you'll have much more impact if you choose an area where you enjoy the work and have good personal fit.

Second, as we argued, being successful in your field gives you more career capital.

This sounds obvious, but can be a big deal.

Generally, being known as a person who gets shit done and is great at what they do can open all sorts of often surprising opportunities.

For example, many organizations will hire someone without experience of their area if that person has done something impressive elsewhere.

For example, many AI companies have hired people without a background in AI.

Charity and company board members are often successful people recruited from other fields.

Or you might meet someone in another field who admires your work and wants to work together.

Moreover, being successful in any field, even if it seems a bit random, gives you influence, money, and connections, which, as we've also covered, can be used to promote all sorts of good causes, even those unrelated to your field.

Example, Isabel Bermakey started out as a fashion model, but after speaking to experts who said nuclear energy was needed to tackle climate change, she pivoted to using her social media following to promote it.

Becoming a fashion model isn't normally one of our recommendations, but it could still be the right choice if your fit is high enough.

Third, being good at your job and gaining a sense of mastery is a vital component of being satisfied in your work.

We covered this in the first chapter.