Seth Needs to Have a Word with Some of the People I Interact With.

When someone asks, "Do you have any case studies and rules of thumb from my industry about how someone in precisely the same circumstances did x and got y," it's pretty clear that they seek reassurance and a promise of certainty.

But all the good stuff comes from leaping. From doing the things that might not work.

By Mr. Godin. And as usual it brings me to say, truer words were never spoken. Now, if only everyone in the marcomm and advertising industry would pay heed to it. 

Seth Shows You What's What Again.

Short. Straight-to-the-point. And so brutally accurate. Time to become a better boss.

The world's worst boss

That would be you.

Even if you're not self-employed, your boss is you. You manage your career, your day, your responses. You manage how you sell your services and your education and the way you talk to yourself.

Odds are, you're doing it poorly.

If you had a manager that talked to you the way you talked to you, you'd quit. If you had a boss that wasted as much of your time as you do, they'd fire her. If an organization developed its employees as poorly as you are developing yourself, it would soon go under.

I'm amazed at how often people choose to fail when they go out on their own or when they end up in one of those rare jobs that encourages one to set an agenda and manage themselves. Faced with the freedom to excel, they falter and hesitate and stall and ultimately punt.

We are surprised when someone self-directed arrives on the scene. Someone who figures out a way to work from home and then turns that into a two-year journey, laptop in hand, as they explore the world while doing their job. We are shocked that someone uses evenings and weekends to get a second education or start a useful new side business. And we're envious when we encounter someone who has managed to bootstrap themselves into happiness, as if that's rare or even uncalled for.

There are few good books on being a good manager. Fewer still on managing yourself. It's hard to think of a more essential thing to learn.

Without Seth Godin, This Blog Wouldn't Exist.

Okay, I exaggerate a little. I discovered Seth in my 2nd year in advertising while working on some Customer Relationship Management (CRM) stuff. This blog was started way back in 2008 or something. But yes, the daily influx you see on this blog, that's all Seth.

Every day, despite all that he does, he finds time to write one meaningful blog post. Some of them are long and meandering. Some of them are brutally pithy. But all of them consistently educational. Even when he shills stuff to his readers, you have to admire how he does it. It doesn't feel like a sales pitch, it still feels like conversation. And I'm talking about a guy who his readers just know from his blog.

I am gonna share what he wrote today. It's useful for everyone. And it's right in line with all the talks I give you guys about developing a ritual. 

To overcome an irrational fear replace it with a habit.

If you're afraid to write, write a little, every day. Start with an anonymous blog, start with a sentence. Every day, drip, drip, drip, a habit.

If you're afraid to speak up, speak up a little, every day. Not to the board of directors, but to someone. A little bit, every day.

Habits are more powerful than fears. 

... But What If No One Notices?

Doubt. Good ol' unsullied, formidable as fuck doubt. Whether you are just starting off as a creative or someone trying to pursue a hobby more seriously, doubt plagues every creative person's endeavours. All the time. It's not so much so the effort but the idea that you could do something and that the world wouldn't take notice.

So if you are about to start a project and doubt's stopping you in your tracks, making you wonder if anything you do is actually worthwhile, I've some comforting words for you.

NO. Nothing you do is actually worthwhile. You will not strike gold. That cute girl in class won't comment on your blog. Even your own siblings won't like your tilt-shift photos on Instagram. It's far better if you admit right at the outset that you could do your best but still not get recognised for it.

Life is unfair after all. Credit is not often given where it's due. But what's worth noting is that unless you actually put yourself out there, credit would never come to you.

So pick up that pen, write that sonnet. Let it be terrible. Let the rhymes be off. Just put yourself out there. Chances are what you do today might not bring you fame or fortune or whatever you might seek. Chances are what you might do tomorrow would mean squat to the world but the oft chance that whatever little art you put out there achieves critical mass rests on your perseverance of putting yourself out there. There's a reason why they say hindsight is 20/20.

So, shall we get started then?


PS: I wrote this because Seth Godin asked me to. No, well, not exactly. This is a part of the #YourTurnChallenge - a weeklong challenge that encourages people to ship things by blogging everyday for a week. This is Day I. Hope Day II goes well too.