2.6 306 G.school #73 visiting the incarcerated
John 14:20 you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
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SETH GODIN Sharp tools
Professional woodworkers rarely have to be reminded to sharpen their tools. Of course they know this.
The rest of us, on the other hand, regularly use digital tools we don’t understand, don’t maintain and haven’t optimized.
Sometimes, our lack of care in the choice and use of tools only wastes our time. Often, it actually degrades the quality of what we’re seeking to create.
If you’re not regularly getting better at your digital toolbox, you’re actually getting worse.
September 21, 2024
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep[a] my commandments.
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SETH GODIN Professionals are consistent
Authenticity is for amateurs.
We want the surgeon, the broadcaster or the musician to show up fully, as the best version of themselves.
We know you might be tired from an overnight shift, and authentically feel like phoning it in, but hey, this is the only aorta I’ve got, and I’d prefer it if you were the consistent, world-class surgeon you’re capable of being.
Authenticity is for friendships.
Professionals simply show up. Especially when they don’t feel like it.
September 20, 2024
2.4 312 Time travel (?)
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one”
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SETH GODIN The ledge
Drowning is devastating, a tragic and painful way to go.
So much so that feeling like we’re drowning is a trigger, an overwhelming emotion that causes us to grasp, struggle and leave our best self behind.
It’s easy to experience this even when we’re out of the water. When the stakes are high and time is short, we can activate drowning mode, losing our focus, resilience, and generosity.
The ledge can be a useful way to talk ourselves out of the spiral.
If you’re in 8 feet of water, it’s easy to feel afraid. But once you realize that you’re only a few inches away from a ledge, one you can return to whenever you like, it’s possible to reset, to find your bearings.
It’s not that hard to imagine a ledge. Sure, the parts didn’t arrive on time, but our deadline isn’t for a few days, back to the ledge, let’s regroup and come up with a new plan. Yes, the project didn’t work, but our budget has enough slack in it that we can try again with a new project tomorrow.
The ledge is a combination of time and money. It’s the buffer between here and disaster. The ledge is a foundation, a place we can find our footing as we think about the next steps. And the ledge offers perspective, because we can realize that even if this moment feels momentous, it might not be.
Resilient project management and risk-taking requires investing in a ledge. When we put everything on the line and cut the timing to the absolute minimum, the stakes get higher and we expose ourselves to failure.
Part of the art of innovation is choosing projects we can afford to dance with.
And the daily emotional work is reminding ourselves that the ledge is right there. So we can refocus and go back to being our best.
September 19, 2024
2.3 316 Prime the RAS (?)
Mark 1:15. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news
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SETH GODIN A next frontier for spam and scams
Please be on the alert for:
Spam that includes your name, address, phone number and other personal details.
Phone calls that are from human-sounding bots that pretend to be from friends or trusted brands.
Job offers.
Video mashups that include AI-generated people that seem to be made just for you.
Security alerts that are actually precisely the opposite.
Links that sure look trustworthy, but go somewhere you don’t expect.
It makes me sad that people with skills spend their time building ever-more ornate scams. It also bums me out that the emails from this blog often end up in the spam folder, but spam somehow manages to make it to my inbox.
PS a few typos in yesterday’s post. Sorry. If you encounter a bad link or a typo, visit my blog for the latest, corrected version. Thanks.
September 18, 2024
2.2 326 Neurotransmitters (?)
John 4:24 God is spirit…
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SETH GODIN Vocal fatigue
Most of us talk, some of us do it for a living.
When your voice is on the fritz, it can affect your entire body as well as the way you approach your day. I’ve read all 25+ of my audiobooks myself, and I used to be able to complete each one in a day or two. Now it takes months. I wanted to share some of what I’ve learned the hard way.
First, a hack: Gether’s pastilles are a miracle. Not cheap, worth it.
Next, if you’re encountering vocal challenges somewhat regularly, consider getting a voice coach.
If it’s chronic, go to an ENT specialist and get scoped. Don’t take steroids unless three different doctors confirm you need them.
One cause of persistent vocal issues could be posture. I’ve found great success with in-person help from a coach certified in the Alexander Technique. It’s not invasive and sort of fun.
But here’s the latest thing I’ve had great results from. It’s free, easy and a little silly, and it really works. The official name for it is a semi-occluded vocal tract exercise, and you can do it two ways:
Get a straw and a tall glass of water, filled about three inches deep. You’re not going to be drinking the water.
First thing: Blow bubbles. Do it calmly and slowly and consistently for a full long breath.
Experiment with changing the shape of your mouth as you do. It’s lovely.
Second thing, which is surprisingly tricky at first: Blow bubbles while you’re humming.
[Thanks to Andrew Keltz for the insight.]
Feel better.
September 17, 2024
2.1 326 Exceed expectations
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
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SETH GODIN Bye now
The difference between ‘buy now’ and ‘bye now’ is very thin.
Sometimes, when we push very hard for a commitment, we break the trust we’ve earned.
For a while, you might not notice the broken trust, because we’re encouraged to keep pushing, treating every individual as a walking ATM, not a relationship to be nurtured and a person to be helped.
Soon, though, you run out of the gullible and all you’re left with is distrust.
September 16, 2024
1.7 330 G.school #72 One of those days
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made
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SETH GODIN Modern apologies
The AI driven voice mail system said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand you.” Of course, there is no “I” and by most definitions of sorry, it’s not.
But it made me feel better.
The overworked and slightly bitter front desk person who was the frontline flotsam in a poorly designed system couldn’t be bothered. Even though the person they worked for was cancelling the appointment, and I had just spent ten minutes returning their call through a maze of badly designed prompts and it was a hassle to reschedule, they couldn’t/didn’t/wouldn’t say, “I’m sorry.”
After all, they didn’t cancel the appointment or design the system.
“Sorry” doesn’t have to be an admission of guilt or acceptance of fault. It could simply be the kind way one human acknowledges to another human that things aren’t ideal right now.
The magic of this simple word is that it can make both people feel better.
September 15, 2024
1.6 335 G.school #71 Perfect love casts out deer (wait, what?)
Luke 18:25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God
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SETH GODIN The hierarchy of insight
It looks like this:
data
information
knowledge
understanding
wisdom
Which do we measure the most, spend the most obtaining and argue about most often? We might have it backwards. HT Russ Ackoff.
September 14, 2024
1.5 332 what is the meaning of your life (?)
Luke 17:21 … behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
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Let’s pray…
Jesus said, "Repent, and believe in the good news! The kingdom of God is in your midst; it is within you."
Let's use that presence; seeking the power and audacity to imagine better versions of ourselves and our communities:
-- To love God with all our Heart, and mind, and soul;
-- To love one another as Jesus loved us; and
-- To love ourselves with no conditions.
Let's nurture and share that presence, seeking the courage to go from here to the margins:
-- To help the hungry, the thirsty, the unhoused, the unwashed, the incarcerated, and the sick because we belong to one another;
-- To join those whose burdens are more than they can bear because, it's the only way that we'll stop throwing people away;
-- To pray for our orphans and widows, living at the margins of society, especially in inhumane conditions, overlooked by institutions and considered of lesser importance.
In the name of the father, son and holy Spirit,
Amen.
1.4 334 "People like us, do things like this"
Luke 12:48 For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
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SETH GODIN Getting AI to do your work
That’s the first step, certainly. If you don’t, your boss will.
The second step is to take the time you’ve freed up and do work that the AI can’t do.
September 12, 2024
1.3 330 The day after (?)
Luke 5:32 I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
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SETH GODIN Better pockets
Every coat needs better pockets.
There are categories of products or services where there’s a universal area for improvement. When in doubt, make the pockets better.
The interesting work is in realizing that you might offer a product or service where there are non-universal preferences. Areas where improvement isn’t valued.
The Birkin bag is not a good value or particularly functional. That’s okay, that’s part of the appeal.
We might not benefit by always focusing on the pockets.
September 11, 2024
1.2 333 wake-up (!)
Mark 10:43-45 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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SETH GODIN When did we lose consciousness?
In medical TV dramas, losing consciousness is something that happens suddenly and dramatically. We can all tell… the body is still there, but the mind is gone, at least for now.
Unfortunately, this happens in real life. At work. In our personal lives. For a few minutes or even a decade or more.
We stop noticing. We fail to appreciate. Most of all, we stop making decisions.
Sheepwalking.
You probably don’t need a medical intervention. Instead, we simply have to find the guts to wake up.
Choice brings responsibility, and responsibility is often accompanied by fear.
That’s okay. You can’t run a marathon without getting tired, and you can’t do important work when you’re asleep.
PS thanks to everyone who responded to yesterday’s post. We sold way more than half of the limited-edition boxes in less than a day. I apologize that international ordering didn’t work in the morning, but the problem is now fixed. Thanks for your patience.
September 10, 2024
1.1 331 good ideas spread Horizontally1.1
Mark 5:36
…“Do not fear, only believe.”
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SETH GODIN Celebrating the thousand with a special package
[Lots of links in this post… US offer is here, international is here.]
UPDATE: currently a bug on the international orders, I hope to have it fixed by 10 am NY time. Sorry.
Ideas travel horizontally.
Not from the creator to the audience as much as from one person to another.
It’s easy to misunderstand the insight of Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 True Fans. Decades ago he argued that the long tail is fueled by circles of people who lean in and support a creator’s work. 1,000 people who show up when there’s something important going on. 1,000 fans who care enough to enable an individual to create something worthwhile.
That matters. But that’s not what makes it so powerful.
Ideas that spread win.
The 1,000 fans go first, yes, but they also spread the word. Part of the creator’s job is to give the true fans something worth talking about, something that advances their mission.
When we make spreading the word worthwhile, the word gets spread.
Today, I’m launching my new book in a special package to 1,000 people.
Click here for more pictures and to order…
Here’s a short video intro
It’s seven copies of the book (which comes out in about six weeks), a collectible chocolate bar from Askinosie with a trading card inside, a deck of 54 strategy cards and three month’s access to purple.space, including full access to the Marketing Seminar and Strategy Course as well. The retail value is over $700. I’m working with my publisher and Porchlight to sell the whole box of joy for below cost, less than $125 in the US.
Why overdo it?
Because ideas spread horizontally. Because someone with seven books is likely to give six away. Because I believe that when people have a better understanding of how to use strategy to make things better, they’re going to want to have their colleagues join them on the journey.
And because it’s fun.
It’s fun to interact with the true fans. Your questions and stories and heroics make me think more clearly and find new ways to extend the work. And what an opportunity design and create packaging for chocolate bars, trading cards and a strategy deck as part of my day job.
It all ships in a few weeks. If it’s something you’re interested in, I hope we made enough.
Click here to see all the details. International orders (no chocolate, sorry), please click here instead.
Thank you.
4.7 328 G.school #70 In the dark, baby (!)
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
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SETH GODIN A labor of love
That’s magical. To have the resources to expend labor on something that fills us with joy.
If you’re lucky enough to encounter this, perhaps it makes sense not to confuse the issue by also trying to turn it into labor for maximum profit.
When we focus on one, we often decrease the other.
September 8, 2024
4.6 322 G.school #69 the Categorical Imperative
Matthew 28:19-20: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
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SETH GODIN The bitterness loop
Spoiled leads to bitter.
A sense of entitlement is a trap, because bitterness demands more evidence and seeks to maintain dominance over the other emotions.
When we’re busy looking for more reasons to be bitter, we’re not taking the time to do generative work, to connect and to find opportunities to make things better. These are the enemies of bitterness… it’s easy to make bitterness worse by seeking more reasons to be bitter.
September 7, 2024
4.5 314 the scenic route
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Today’s podcast
worksheet
Let’s pray…
Jesus said, "Repent, and believe in the good news! The kingdom of God is in your midst; it is within you."
Let's use that presence; seeking the power and audacity to imagine better versions of ourselves and our communities:
-- To love God with all our Heart, and mind, and soul;
-- To love one another as Jesus loved us; and
-- To love ourselves with no conditions.
Let's nurture and share that presence, seeking the courage to go from here to the margins:
-- To help the hungry, the thirsty, the unhoused, the unwashed, the incarcerated, and the sick because we belong to one another;
-- To join those whose burdens are more than they can bear because, it's the only way that we'll stop throwing people away;
-- To pray for our orphans and widows, living on the margins of society, especially in inhumane conditions, overlooked by institutions and considered of lesser importance.
In the name of the father, son and holy Spirit,
Amen.