Write of Passage Weekly - How to Find Work That Stirs Your Soul

Hey,

“I love my job!” Sounds radical, doesn’t it? 

It almost makes you want to roll your eyes. Not liking your job is so normal that positive emotions can arouse suspicion. 

I escaped the 20th century hamster wheel years ago, and today, I can confidently say, “I love my job!” Not because I’m overly cheery or terribly disillusioned, but because my job (teaching people how to write online) is aligned with my passions, skills, and expertise. 

I’m thankful to do work that…

• Energizes me — I feel eager on Sunday nights, not anxious 
• Challenges me — I use my unique abilities each week 
• Fulfills me — I see its lasting impact on others. 

Many people can’t say the same.

In fact, I know too many people who feel overqualified for their current work and underappreciated for what they know. Maybe you’re one of them. 

Your boss brushes off your creative new idea in a team meeting. Your colleagues are baffled when you flex a skill that’s not included in your job description. “Who knew?” They say incredulously. (You did, of course.) 

Worst of all, you wrestle with an impending sense of emptiness every time you open your laptop, knowing the work you’ll do today will barely impact anyone. 

If you feel this way, you’re not alone. I was once there. Many online writers and Write of Passage alumni have been there, too.

Take Nick Maggiuli, who once worked a stuffy job at a litigation consulting firm. Bored and unfulfilled, he dragged his feet from one meaningless meeting to the next — until finally, he’d had enough. He decided to start writing.

Nick loved data and finance, and he was hungry to accelerate his career. He committed to publishing one data-related article every week. No exceptions. He even wrote under a pseudonym to start so his friends wouldn’t laugh at him behind his back. 

For the first few months, nobody read his work. Every time he hit “Publish,” he was met with awkward silence and self-doubt. Until one day, one of his articles went viral. He continued to publish, writing with heads-down consistency month after month. As his writing piled up, he soon got a call from Ritholtz Wealth Management — an investment firm with over $1 billion in assets. They gave him his dream job offer — and today he’s their Chief Operating Officer. Nick recently published his first book, Just Keep Buying, and he has over 150,000+ readers and subscribers. (Crazy to think that he once wrote under a pseudonym because he was scared of looking dumb!)

Or look at Erin Moore. A few years out of college, she found herself working as a marketing manager, handling an endless carousel of projects for faceless Enterprise SaaS companies. She was uninspired and knew she was capable of more. 

She leapt into Write of Passage and started sharing her writing. Each week she wrote and exchanged feedback. She met dozens of fellow students and learned about new industries and businesses – including Readwise, a bootstrapped startup helping people better retain what they read. Connections built through writing helped her start a new career as Head of Community at Readwise. No more SEO tweaks. Erin now spends her time talking with people who love books and ideas.  

Then, there’s Alice Lemée. Before Alice joined Write of Passage, she knew what it felt like to be rejected from every job. Unsure of what she wanted out of her career, she floated aimlessly between minimum wage jobs — working at a health club, then as an intern at a music company. 

Then Covid hit, and she found herself out of work. She didn’t wallow. Instead, she committed to building a career as a freelance writer. She got a few gigs, but she had a problem — how could she find more clients? She joined Write of Passage to carve out a consistent personal writing habit, which helped her build a Twitter audience of over 22,000 followers. Just like that, the high-ticket clients came flooding in. Alice went from unemployed to thriving business owner, writing for brands like FastCompany, Zapier, and Matt D’Avella. 

I’m sure you can see the thread that ties these stories together. 

By writing online, you can unlock the vault inside of you, whether that’s: 

• Years of hard-won wisdom
• Unique knowledge, insights, and ideas
• Or learned skills and expertise.

But, here’s the thing: Your ideas can’t work for you unless you start sharing them. 

Imagine you start writing online. No skeptical boss to shoot you down, no colleagues who don’t believe in you, no talking points to stick to. Just you, freely sharing what you know. 

You hit “Publish” on a piece and when you wake up the next morning, dozens of people have flooded the comments. 

“I’ve never thought of it that way before!” 

“Your perspective is so unique.” 

“I can’t wait to read more of your writing.” 

And eventually: “Would you be open to working with us?” 

The Internet is the best matchmaker on the planet. Your ideas fly around the globe, independent of distance and time, working for you while you sleep. When you write online, you actively invite the serendipity of the Internet into your life. 

That’s why writing online is the highway to finding work that stirs your soul. 

Like Nick, you can land your dream job. Like Erin, you can find your people. Like Alice, you can tap into your unrealized potential. By writing online, you can find better work, deeper meaning, and a richer life. You can finally say, “I love my job!” with complete conviction. 

It’s happened for countless Write of Passage students. It can happen for you, too. 

Keep an eye on your inbox for more ways you can unleash the power of the Internet. At Write of Passage, we help our students squash "what-ifs" and start sharing their ideas online — all within five weeks. Enrollment for the next cohort opens September 12.

Here’s to finding work that stirs your soul.

Happy writing,

David Perell

P.S. This cohort has a cap on new students, which allows us to deliver the best possible experience. It’s first come, first serve. But because you’re on this private email list, you can sign up for our pre-enrollment list. By doing so, you'll be able to enroll 24 hours before the general public and guarantee your spot.