In today’s world of infinitely evolving career options it can be hard, even nigh impossible, to know where to direct our energies, skills and knowledge. There are so many paths we could take. So many ladders we could climb. And so many skills we could learn. It’s obvious that each will take us somewhere. But, without a clear goal in mind, the destination we arrive at could leave us trapped, living someone else’s version of success.
So, even as you close your businesses, job-hop between your companies and navigate your many career squiggles, how do you direct all your energies towards an ultimate goal worth striving for?
Let me introduce you to the “Magnum Opus”.
Translated from Latin literally as “great work”, it refers to the creation that is considered the greatest work of a person’s career1. For centuries it was used by the medieval European guilds as a rite of passage for aspiring journeymen to become master craftsman, where the submission of their Magnum Opus would be the qualification used to assess their abilities.
Many of the historical examples refer to crafts or trades rarely practised by the majority of today’s knowledge workers, including Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise painting (1874), F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby novel (1925) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem musical score (1791).
Each masterpiece is the perfect sum of the artist’s unique perspective of the world and their long-honed skills. Combined together through practice and reflection, these works lay the foundation for an entirely new style, era or discipline. For Monet this meant becoming the founder of impressionist paintings. For Fitzgerald this meant creating “the great American novel”. And for Mozart this meant setting the bar for the whole genre of Requiem Mass for others to aspire to.
Though undoubtedly aspirational in their historical form, I believe that a Magnum Opus can and should extend beyond simply art. And that if we loosen the definition to include step-changes in the sciences, discovery of new limits of the human body and the leadership of impactful organisations we get closer to a more complete meaning of “great work”.
This extension of the definition allows us to include Steve Jobs’ creation of the iPhone, Usain Bolt’s consecutive wins over the 100m & 200m at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics and Elon Musk’s founding of SpaceX. And while each of these feats might still feel out of reach for us mere mortals, a broader scope of what to aim for can inspire us to find our own Magnum Opus.
Discovering your Great Work
Finding your own version of a Magnum Opus is no easy feat. For it requires you to draw on a unique perspective, style or framework for seeing the world that can only be created from repeated experience. As an individual with many interests, your Great Work will likely be an expression not of one specialist skill, but of many, that are bound together by a golden thread.
To sew them together means following your curiosities for their own sake, reflecting on what you learn and trusting that the seemingly useless knowledge will help you understand the world in a new way. For as Ozan Varol observes “[Extraordinary thinkers] read textbooks on economics and geology, not knowing that their insights may help them formulate the theory of evolution, as happened with Charles Darwin”2.
Once you do discover your unique beliefs about the world, the next step is to test your theory against reality. This means interviewing people, creating case studies and deep diving down the rabbit hole of research. Along the way find your favourite means of documenting everything you learn - as video, text, photo or audio - and share it with the world. The process of creation will force you to reflect on your learnings, practice a skill that will bring your Magnum Opus to life and build an audience of people interested in your work.
In fact, this is exactly the stage I am at right now. I have my unique model of the future of careers - individuals with many interests earning through many sources of income while navigating careers without obvious progression - and I am using this newsletter to document how the theory works in practice. This not only tests my assumptions. But, it also allows me to build a library of content, an audience of readers and a distinctive writing style that will undoubtedly be useful once I create my own Magnum Opus - a book.
But, with so many options available to you, which type of Magnum Opus should you create? The answer is simple: Whichever means you decided to document your learning journey with. Whether it be a pen, a keyboard, a camera or a microphone, each is a tool of creation that can be directed towards your Great Work. So, embrace the one you’re already spent the last however long already mastering.
You did it. What’s next?
The day will finally come when those long hours and sleepless nights pay off. Your Magnum Opus will be out there in the world. And you can finally rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe, right…? Right…?
Sort of. Definitely take the break. Wind down. Reflect. Throw a party. Journal. Whatever allows you to sink into the moment of appreciating the scale of the milestone you’ve just achieved. Because you’ve just proven to yourself that you are in fact pretty amazing indeed.
But, when the cocktails have been sipped, the champagne has been popped and a little bit of life has been lived you’ll likely come to the same conclusion I did after my two year journey to cross the Ironman UK finish line…
You’re only just getting started.
What you thought was your Magnum Opus is now merely another milestone in your journey to create something bigger. It’s only become clearer now you’ve taken this next step. And you won’t know exactly what it looks like. But, you will know that it calls out to you, asking if you will rise to it’s challenge once more.
The only question remaining is…
Will you heed it’s call?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/magnum%20opus
Awaken Your Genius: Escape Conformity, Ignite Creativity, and Become Extraordinary, Ozan Varol (2023)
Yes, let’s do it! Still formulating my vision but slowly chipping at it.