Key Takeaways
- Reese Witherspoon says that career success is less about “chasing your dreams” and more about pursuing your talents.
- In a new social media video, Witherspoon argues that it is your responsibility to figure out your specific, unique talents.
- Her advice is that “everybody has dreams,” but that doesn’t mean you’re going to fulfill that dream — you’re supposed to do what you’re genuinely good at.
Reese Witherspoon is pushing back against the classic career advice to “follow your dreams,” stating instead that sustainable career success comes from identifying and pursuing your talents, not just your aspirations.
In a recent video posted to Instagram and shared with her 30 million followers, the actress and entrepreneur described talking to a young woman over the phone who wanted to leave a job she disliked. When Witherspoon asked, “What are your talents?” the woman had trouble answering.
Witherspoon, who has starred in hits like Legally Blonde, The Morning Show and Big Little Lies, made the interaction a learning experience. Instead of chasing your dreams, “you chase your talents,” she said. Her point is that the path to meaningful success is less about romantic ideals and more about self-knowledge: figure out what you do uniquely well, and then go after that as hard as you can.
“Everybody has dreams. Doesn’t mean you’re going to be that thing. You are supposed to do what you’re talented at,” Witherspoon explained in the Instagram video. “It’s your job in life to figure out what your specific, unique talents are and go chase them.”
Witherspoon has taken her own advice. She rose to fame after starring in hit films like the 2005 musical Walk the Line and the 2014 adventure film Wild, then expanded her career by founding a successful production company, Hello Sunshine. Witherspoon sold a majority stake in Hello Sunshine in 2021 in a deal that valued the business at about $900 million.
Try inner aptitudes instead of dreams
Experts agree with Witherspoon that dreams alone shouldn’t guide a career. Leadership coach Amina AlTai told CNBC in December that passions are “by nature fickle,” and they could “fizzle out fast.” She cautioned against tying your entire career to whatever engages you in a particular season. Dreams can evolve quickly, whereas careers are long-term bets that demand staying power, she explained.
Suzy Welch, an NYU Stern School of Business professor, also told CNBC last year that it is important to identify what you are good at, or the inner aptitudes that make you better at certain skills and competencies. This aligns with Witherspoon’s advice to “figure out what your specific, unique talents are” and follow them.
Welch framed the pursuit of a purposeful career as finding an “area of transcendence,” where three things intersect: values, skills and interests that can financially support you. Dreams often reflect your values and interests, but Welch warned that without a real skills component and some economic viability, they aren’t enough to sustain a career.
Discovering your strengths
Witherspoon’s advice is “to do what you’re talented at,” which demands that you have to do the hard work of identifying your talents.
According to Welch, finding where you shine could look like answering the following questions: “What do people consistently praise you for? What tasks feel easier to you than to others? Where have you produced real, measurable results?”
Welch said that recognizing these innate skills is what “unlocks the work we should engage in and the life we should lead to thrive.”
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Key Takeaways
- Reese Witherspoon says that career success is less about “chasing your dreams” and more about pursuing your talents.
- In a new social media video, Witherspoon argues that it is your responsibility to figure out your specific, unique talents.
- Her advice is that “everybody has dreams,” but that doesn’t mean you’re going to fulfill that dream — you’re supposed to do what you’re genuinely good at.
Reese Witherspoon is pushing back against the classic career advice to “follow your dreams,” stating instead that sustainable career success comes from identifying and pursuing your talents, not just your aspirations.
In a recent video posted to Instagram and shared with her 30 million followers, the actress and entrepreneur described talking to a young woman over the phone who wanted to leave a job she disliked. When Witherspoon asked, “What are your talents?” the woman had trouble answering.
