Book SummaryHow to Start, by Jodi Kantor

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of How to Start

It’s a tough world out there, especially if you’re a young person starting your career. You’re confronted with the age-old problem of finding work that fulfills you and pays the bills while you’re bombarded with bad news every day—whether it’s AI disrupting the job market, powerful people making questionable choices that affect us all, or geopolitical conflicts adding to the environment of uncertainty. When it seems like the world is burning, how do you start your life’s work? And is it even worth it?

Jodi Kantor sought to answer these questions when she was invited to give the undergraduate commencement address at Columbia University in 2025. It was a time of back-to-back crises at her alma mater, with students clashing with police and research programs losing funding. Kantor, a journalist, interviewed students about their most pressing concerns, which weren’t politics or war in themselves, but what all these things meant for their future. She addressed this apprehension in her [keynote...

How to Start Summary Finding Fulfilling Work Amid Uncertainty

In 2025, Columbia University was in turmoil. There was in-fighting among students over the Israel-Gaza conflict, clashes with the police, and a revolving door of university presidents. The school lost a substantial amount of federal funding, and a Palestinian student was jailed for his activism.

(Shortform note: Columbia’s reputation as the “activist Ivy” long predates the events of 2025. Student protest has been part of the university’s identity for more than a century, with landmark movements including the 1968 occupations over the Vietnam War and the university’s plans for a gym in Morningside Park. A year after the Trump administration froze $400 million in federal funding and demanded sweeping changes in March 2025, the activist tradition looked markedly different: While the university resisted some of the administration’s demands—like more federal control over the university’s Middle East Studies—it has tightened protest rules, imposed harsher penalties on...

How to Start Summary Is It Worth It?

It’s easy to dismiss work as merely something that pays the bills and to think that you don’t need to find it meaningful in order to be happy. But Kantor argues that work sits alongside your relationships in contributing to a fulfilling life—it takes up so much of your time that it should give you more than just a paycheck.

(Shortform note: While Kantor says we should find work that gives us meaning, others push back against “workism,” the belief that work is necessary to create personal identity and purpose. Some people benefit from immersing themselves in their career, but most will experience disappointment, anxiety, disengagement, and burnout because careers were never designed to provide as much as we expect them to. Author Simone Stolzoff recommends decentering work and visualizing your ideal life—then thinking about how work can help you build it.)

It’s also easy to feel cynical and wonder whether building a career is worthwhile amid...

How to Start Summary The Work of Finding Your Work

We’ve discussed the two elements of a meaningful career—craft and need—and the reasons you should pursue one instead of giving into despair. In this section, we’ll discuss Kantor’s advice for how to start.

1. Don’t Let Others Dictate Your Path

Parents, universities, and society often push “safe” careers like law and medicine onto young people, and “experts” predict job market trends every few years. But a career doesn’t progress properly when it relies on external approval or someone else’s design.

Kantor says you should tune out the noise and determine what makes sense for you to do rather than what’s expected of you. You can do this by paying attention to the roles you take on in everyday life—perhaps you’re the most reliable event planner in your social group or the person all your friends turn to for advice. Kantor also suggests keeping a notebook where you consistently jot down who and what energizes you or irritates you, as well as the needs you see around you. Over time, you’ll collect data that tells you more about who you are and what you can do.

But What If Parents Are Paying for College?

You might feel compelled to take a major of your...

Shortform Exercise: Build a Meaningful Career

Kantor says that to build a meaningful, durable career, you need to focus on craft and need.

What craft do you want to become good at, and what needs could that craft help you meet?