80,000 Hours: How to Have a Fulfilling Career That Does Good

“You have about 80,000 hours in your career: 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, for 40 years,” contends Todd, cofounder of the nonprofit 80,000 Hours, in this deeply researched update to the career guide he self-published in 2016. “How you spend that time is the most important decision you’ll ever make.” Drawing from his organization’s work with clients and research into what makes for a satisfying career, he argues the imperative to “follow your passion” is misleading, and instead encourages readers to “get good at something that helps others.” To maximize the impact of one’s career, he recommends going after the most pressing issues, or those that are large in scale, neglected, and solvable. He suggests working on efforts to prevent the next pandemic or to address the risks posed by advanced AI, like its potential to enable corporations or countries to amass unprecedented power. Elsewhere, he predicts what skills will be most useful in the future (those that are hard to automate), demonstrates how to make a career plan, and outlines how people commonly sabotage their careers by not investing in themselves. Throughout, Todd uses data to convincingly challenge conventional wisdom (he cites surveys, for example, that show once a person makes around $100,000 a year, money makes only a small difference in their happiness) and offers practical tips for achieving the often ambiguous goal of living a meaningful life. This will resonate with those seeking to contribute to the greater good. (May)