Excerpt: If you’re a creator of any kind (current or future) this list of quotes from The Practice should be required reading—they’re THAT good.
Introduction: Shipping creative work never gets easier.
Writing is always hard. Just like sprinting is always hard. Neither ever gets easier—you just get better. Just today, for example, I sat down to write and noticed—really felt—the potency of the resistance that I had to overcome in order to begin. Here’s what the start to my writing looked like:
- I felt the anxiety of the blank page and mindlessly opened new internet tabs to surf the web.
- When I finally came back to the blank screen, I noticed a dirty dish on my desk and decided it was a good time to take it to the kitchen and get some water.
- By the time I got back to my desk and looked again at my blank screen, I felt that my nails were getting too long and that my facial hair needed to be trimmed… I’m not making this up.
- So, I went into the bathroom and trimmed my facial hair and started cutting my nails. It wasn’t until I was cutting my nails that I finally noticed and became conscious of what was going on—the resistance was in control.
The resistance is the repelling, distracting force you feel when you set out to do deep work. Deep work is the type of work that requires intense focus and deliberate effort. It’s the type of work that is outside of your comfort zone and usually entails critical thinking, problem solving, creative exploration, research, experimentation, etc. and is best done in a distraction-free environment.
Why? Because distractions are the antithesis of focus. And without focus, deep work can’t be done. And what’s the most distracting entity in our lives that’s going to stop us from doing our deep work?
Good guess, but I’m actually not talking about your phone. It’s your brain! Your own mind is the ultimate distraction-making machine. Your mind is the one that’s being asked to buckle down and do this intensely focused work that’s outside of where it’s comfortable in order for it to be painfully expanded in growth—and it doesn’t like it! Your mind doesn’t want to be uncomfortable any more than your body doesn’t want to be uncomfortable.
This is why you’re always looking for the most comfortable couches, beds, chairs, recliners, and pillows. Your mind, in a similar attempt, finds comfort in doing easy, mindless stuff. Like, opening new internet tabs and browsing the web aimlessly. Or, arbitrarily tidying things up just because it keeps you busy and distracted from real work. Or, all-of-a-sudden pointing out the fact that your nails and facial hair need to be cut.
It’s all a big ploy against you that’s being conspired by you so that you don’t have to do your most important work! Sounds crazy right? Now go ahead and think about it against your life and see if it’s true…
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The List: 29 Must-Read Seth Godin Quotes from The Practice For All Creators
Below, you will find my complete collection of quotes from The Practice that all creators simply must-read. And one of the key insights that Seth shares throughout his book is that anyone can become a creator. Being a “creator” is not a special title that is reserved for some gifted-and-talented few. Being a creator is a skillset that can be learned.
And with curiosity, generosity, connection, and a regimented practice—it’s a skillset that can transform, not just your life, but the lives of many others, too. Seeing yourself as a creator, however, and committing to a regimented practice can be challenging and intimidating. That’s where Seth comes in.
Not only will he convince you of the possibility of becoming a creator, but he brilliantly lays out a case against many of the most common arguments against it. He talks about identity, imposter syndrome, writers block, inspiration, creativity, selling, criticism, fear, and so on. That, and in typical Seth fashion, does so in beautifully concise, easy-to-read chapters.
If you’re already a creator of any kind (or are considering becoming one and sharing your art with the world), this book is for you. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this collection of quotes from The Practice that I thought would be the most valuable to share. Good luck and enjoy!
“If you want to change your story, change your actions first. When we choose to act a certain way, our mind can’t help but rework our narrative to make those actions become coherent. We become what we do.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 19) | Read Matt’s Blog on this quote ➜
“Writers write. Runners run. Establish your identity by doing your work.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 35)
“Who wants to do difficult work that doesn’t fulfill us? Who wants to commit to a journey before we know it’s what we were meant to do? The trap is this: only after we do the difficult work does it become our calling. Only after we trust the process does it become our passion. ‘Do what you love’ is for amateurs. ‘Love what you do’ is the mantra for professionals.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 22)
“Of course, at first, all work is lousy. At first, the work can’t be any good—not for you and not for Hemingway. But if you’re the steam shovel that keeps working at it, bit by bit, you make progress, the work gets done, and more people are touched. There’s plenty of time to make it better later. Right now, your job is to make it.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 203)
“Every creator who has engaged in the practice has a long, nearly infinite string of failures. All the ways not to start a novel, not to invent the light bulb, not to transform a relationship. Again and again, creative leaders fail. It is the foundation of our work. We fail and then we edit and then we do it again.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 164)
“Lost in all the noise around us is the proven truth about creativity: it’s the result of desire—the desire to find a new truth, solve an old problem, or serve someone else. Creativity is a choice, it’s not a bolt of lightning from somewhere else.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 3)
“If you want to complain that you don’t have any good ideas, please show me all your bad ideas first. Befriending your bad ideas is a useful way forward. They’re not your enemy. They are essential steps on the path to better.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 191)
“All of us get an endless supply of ideas, notions, and inklings. Successful people, often without realizing it, ignore the ones that are less likely to ‘work,’ and instead focus on the projects that are more likely to advance the mission. Sometimes we call this good taste. It’s possible to get better at this pre-filtering. By doing it out loud. By writing out the factors that you’re seeking, or even by explaining to someone else how your part of the world works. Instinct is great. It’s even better when you work on it.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 143)
“Any idea withheld is an idea taken away. It’s selfish to hold back when there’s a chance you have something to offer.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 98)
“We have unlimited reasons to hide our work and only one reason to share it: to be of service.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 190)
“It’s insulting to call a professional talented. She’s skilled, first and foremost. Many people have talent, but only a few care enough to show up fully, to earn their skill. Skill is rarer than talent. Skill is earned. Skill is available to anyone who cares enough.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 103)
“Everything that matters is something we’ve chosen to do. Everything that matters is a skill and an attitude. Everything that matters is something we can learn. The practice is choice plus skill plus attitude. We can learn it and we can do it again.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 102)
“You are not your work. Your work is a series of choices made with generous intent to cause something to happen. We can always learn to make better choices.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 181)
“When we get really attached to how others will react to our work, we stop focusing on our work and begin to focus on controlling the outcome instead.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 86)
“If our focus is on external validation, then the journey will always be fraught. It’s culturally impossible to do important work that will be loved by everyone. The very act of being ‘important’ means that it will have a different impact on people.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 72)
“Flying across the country is safer than driving. If your goal is to get to Reno, the safest choice is to fly there, not to drive. And if you know of someone who dies in a plane crash on the way to Reno, they didn’t make a bad decision when they chose to fly. There was certainly a bad outcome, though. Decisions are good even if the outcomes aren’t.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 26)
“The time we spend worrying is actually time we’re spending trying to control something that is out of our control. Time invested in something that is within our control is called work. That’s where our most productive focus lies.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 99)
“A key component of practical empathy is a commitment to not be empathic to everyone. A contemporary painter must ignore the criticism or disdain that comes from someone who’s hoping for a classical still life. The tech innovator has to be okay with leaving behind the laggard who’s still using a VCR. That’s okay, because the work isn’t for them. ‘It’s not for you’ is the unspoken possible companion to ‘Here, I made this.’”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 71)
“If the only measure of your worth is in the outcome of a transaction, not in the practice to which you’ve committed, then of course it makes sense to cut corners and to hustle.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 85)
“Selling can feel selfish. We want to avoid hustling people, and so it’s easy to hold back in fear of manipulating someone. Here’s an easy test for manipulation: if the people you’re interacting with discover what you already know, will they be glad that they did what you asked them to?”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 46)
“Money supports our commitment to the practice. Money permits us to turn professional, to focus our energy and our time on the work, creating more impact and more connection, not less. And more importantly, money is how our society signifies enrollment. The person who has paid for your scarce time and scarce output is more likely to value it, to share it, and to take it seriously.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 108)
“When we stop worrying about whether we’ve done it perfectly, we can focus on the process instead. Saturday Night Live doesn’t go on at 11:30 p.m. because it’s ready. It goes on because it’s 11:30. We don’t ship because we’re creative. We’re creative because we ship. Take what you get and commit to a process to make it better.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 171)
“Ultimately, the goal is to become the best in the world at being you. To bring useful idiosyncrasy to the people you seek to change, and to earn a reputation for what you do and how you do it. The peculiar version of you, your assertions, your art.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 226)
“If we failed, would it be worth the journey? Do you trust yourself enough to commit to engaging with a project regardless of the chances of success? The first step is to separate the process from the outcome. Not because we don’t care about the outcome. But because we do.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 92)
“The infinite game is the game we play to play, not to win. The infinite game is a catch in the backyard with your four-year-old son. You’re not trying to win catch; you’re simply playing catch. The most important parts of our lives are games that we can’t imagine winning.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 167)
“The ability to eagerly suggest an alternative to your work is a sign that your posture is one of generosity, not grasping.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 88)
“Where is the fuel to keep us going? Anger gets you only so far, and then it destroys you. Jealousy might get you started, but it will fade. Greed seems like a good idea until you discover that it eliminates all of your joy. The path forward is about curiosity, generosity, and connection. These are the three foundations of art. Art is a tool that gives us the ability to make things better and to create something new on behalf of those who will use it to create the next thing.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 255)
“If you run a marathon, you’re going to get tired. It would make no sense to hire a coach and say, ‘I want you to help me train so I don’t get tired when I run a marathon.’ The only difference between the tens of thousands of people who finish the marathon and those that don’t is that the finishers figured out where to put their tired.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 169)
“No one can possibly do a better job of being you than you can. And the best version of you is the one who has committed to a way forward. Your work is never going to be good enough (for everyone). But it’s already good enough (for someone). Committing to a practice that makes our best better is all we can do.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 246)
If you enjoyed these quotes from The Practice, then you should consider reading Seth’s book in full. It comes highly recommended:
Book Overview: Creative work doesn’t come with a guarantee. But there is a pattern to who succeeds and who doesn’t. And engaging in the consistent practice of its pursuit is the best way forward. Based on the breakthrough Akimbo workshop pioneered by legendary author Seth Godin, The Practice will help you get unstuck and find the courage to make and share creative work. Godin insists that writer’s block is a myth, that consistency is far more important than authenticity, and that experiencing the imposter syndrome is a sign that you’re a well-adjusted human. Most of all, he shows you what it takes to turn your passion from a private distraction to a productive contribution, the one you’ve been seeking to share all along. With this book as your guide, you’ll learn to dance with your fear. To take the risks worth taking. And to embrace the empathy required to make work that contributes with authenticity and joy.
Buy from Amazon! Listen on Audible!
Great on Kindle. Great Experience. Great Value. The Kindle edition of this book comes highly recommended on Amazon.
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…Ready To (Finally) Put An End To The Self-Improvement Yo-Yo-Ing?
Our NEW Guide will teach you how to integrate self-improvement tasks into your life—for life—without requiring NAVY Seal level self-discipline or grit. Download now and get INSTANT access to:
- 30 Powerful, One Page Meditations
- 30 Pace Conscious Challenges
- 30 Original, Downloadable Illustrations
…Build habits that stick or your money back.
Written by Matt Hogan
Founder of MoveMe Quotes. On a mission to help busy people do inner work—for better mental health; for healing; for personal growth. Find me on Twitter / IG / Medium. I also share daily insights here. 🌱
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