“In a competition between someone who knows the most and someone who is willing to learn the most, the edge usually goes to the curious and empathic professional, not the one who is simply protecting what’s already known.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Some problems lend themselves to reexamination. A second, third or even fourth thought is productive, because our initial impulses might not reflect our best effort at understanding the nuances of the situation. But many problems simply create more thoughts, without productive output. As we confront something that is unlikely to have a simple or productive way forward, it’s easy to go into a mental tizzy imagining solutions. The art is understanding which sort of problem we’re facing. And devoting the right amount of thought (not less and definitely not more) to the situation we’re in. Spending cycles on categorizing the problem is probably more productive than wasting time on problems that don’t deserve our effort.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Pushing your way through some critical choices now will probably pay off in far more good days later. How many good days later does hard decision work today earn us? Stalling costs us more than we expect. We get stressed from the act of stalling, and then later, we will have to pay the ongoing cost of putting off work and decisions that would have been easier and more profitable a while ago.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Even the longest biography is only 66 hours on audio. This means that the author has to leave out almost everything. We write our own autobiography each day by deciding what to focus on, what to rehash, and what to worry about. The same life story can be told in many ways, and the way we tell it changes who we are and who we become. Who is editing your version?”
Seth Godin, Blog
“If, every time there’s a dish in the sink, you load and run the dishwasher and scrub the entire kitchen, you’re never going to get anything else done. On the other hand, if you wait until the sink is overflowing and the kitchen is filthy before you work on it, you’re going to spend a lot of time living with a dirty kitchen. Somewhere in between the two extremes is a productive steady state. The same goes for your relationship with a customer, your staffing decisions and just about everything else we do all day. Setting the triggers for action is best done in advance, and maintained regularly. Waiting for a crisis is expensive and risky.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“If you do anything at the last minute that takes more than a minute, you’re not organizing your project properly. The last minute is not a buffer zone, nor is it the moment to double-check your work. The last minute is simply sixty seconds to enjoy and to remind yourself that you successfully planned ahead.”
Seth Godin
“The math is simple: many people do less than they should. They might be selfish, but it’s likely that they’re struggling with a lack of resources or a story of insufficiency. Either way, in any community or organization, many people contribute less than their peers. Whether it’s splitting a check, getting a project done or making an impact on the culture or a cause, if you want things to get better, the only way is to be prepared to do more than your fair share. Because we need to make up for the folks who don’t.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“If your plan, your idea or your art doesn’t involve any significant hurdles in moving forward, it’s probably not worth that much. If it were easy, everyone would do it. The tactic is to seek a path where you see and understand the significant hurdles that kept others away. And then dance with them. They’re not a problem, they’re a feature.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“The worst golfer in town came in last in the club tournament. Actually, that’s not true. The worst golfer didn’t even enter. Well, that’s not true either. The worst golfer doesn’t even play.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“There’s more stimulation, more options and more noise than ever before. The problem is that boredom is a partner with satisfaction and joy. It’s hard to overstimulate ourselves into those feelings.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“To feel sufficient, to be satisfied with what we have: Chisoku in Japanese. Of course, by some measures, there’s never enough. We can always come up with a reason why more is better, or better is better, or new is better or different is better. Enough becomes a choice, not a measure of science. The essence of choice is that it belongs to each of us. And if you decide you have enough, then you do. And with that choice comes a remarkable sort of freedom. The freedom to be still, to become aware and to stop hiding from the living that’s yet to be done.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“If today was a holiday in your honor, what would it be about. If we had to examine everything about you, your work, your impact, your reputation–what would be the positive caricature we would draw? What sorts of slogans, banners and greetings would we use to celebrate you and your work? It’s never accurate to boil down an organization or a person’s work to a simple sentence or two, but we do it anyway. What’s yours?”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Be careful what you wish for. You might not get it. But as you pursue this wish, you’ll change what you do, what you see, who you connect with and the sacrifices you make along the way. Our wishes change us.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Social niceties are easy to do half-heartedly. But they’re not for us, they’re for the other person. When you show up begrudgingly, it’s not half-hearted, it’s cold hearted. A handshake, a greeting, the way we sit in a meeting or wear a mask–it’s a chance to connect and to make a difference for the person we’re with. All in, or not at all.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“There’s a better cause right around the corner. It might not work. You’ll never be able to keep all the promises. It can’t last forever. We’re all going to die. It’s not perfect. Someone might steal your idea. There will be critics. You’re not ready. Someone else is going to do it. It’s not that important. It might not work. On the other hand… Now is better than later, and perfect is an illusion. Act as if. Simply begin. Make things better by making better things. You can always improve it later.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“If you’re feeling creative, do the errands tomorrow. If you’re fit and healthy, take a day to go surfing. When inspiration strikes, write it down. The calendar belongs to everyone else. Their schedule isn’t your schedule unless it helps you get where you’re going.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Markets often persuade us that we don’t have enough. Communities remind us that we do.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“If we’d like the world to work better, more fairly and with more of a long-term view, we have to identify the systems that push participants to do the opposite. And then we need to consistently and persistently work to change the incentives that cause the entities in those systems to act the way they do.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Often, we try to pretend that growth comes with no goodbyes, but it does. Perhaps we can go in with our eyes open, understanding that what we begin will likely end. And when we plan for it, we’ll do it better.”
Seth Godin, Blog