I just watched Michael Sliwinski’s 10-minute chat with Seth Godin. The discussion circled around Seth’s prolific content development schedule. I’d encourage anyone involved with writing or blogging or starting a business to watch the interview.
The following are a few quick points I paraphrased. Check out the interview because there are many more.
Keeping a blog
“If you’re blogging for other people you’ll be disappointed. If nobody reads my blog, I’ll blog anyway.”
Online publishing is fraught with overblown expectations, fragile egos, short attention spans, and humbling failures. In the olden days we learned patience by growing plants; now we learn it by growing our online authority. My article, Not Many Twitter Followers: How to Deal with it, addresses the issue.
Producing a lot of content
“You have to be very good at saying no. I feel badly about all the places I could speak or consult but I cant do that and do what I’m doing now. The discipline of saying no is important.”
Oh Seth, I love it when you talk discipline.
Living a balanced life
“If you’re stealing from one part of your life to make another part of your life work, you’re going to have trouble.”
Seth responds easily and without angst. My response is less pithy. As a single mom of 2, a girlfriend, and a primary breadwinner, I stand on a three-way balance board. It’s a learned skill. So far I’ve learned to:
- say NO frequently
- clarify boundaries at the getgo
- stop stealing time from sleep
- elevate downtime to a daily priority
- get the mundane stuff done and out of the way
- ask myself: is this getting me what I truly want?
Getting published
“You should [select] yourself and not wait for someone else to [select] you.”
The quote is heavily paraphrased but you get the drift. Why wait for someone else to tell you: a) the time is right, b) you’re good enough, c) your work is good enough. Grant yourself top-of-the-list status. Do it yourself.
The full interview is published in Productive! Magazine #10. Seth’s latest book Linchpin is available in bookstores everywhere. Thanks Michael. Thanks Seth. Thanks Productive! Magazine.
What are your responses to the above points? If you watched the interview, what rang for you? I’d really like to know.
Related posts:
- Mission Driven and Unstoppable: An Interview with Michael Pollock
- Interview with Michelle Salater:
Savvy Business Blogger and Small Biz Blogging Advisor - Happiness = Success; 3 Research Based Ways to Cultivate It
- Ten Essentials for Writing Anything: Be Smart About It
- A Great Trick to Keep Me Writing My Novel
2 Responses to “5 Great Take-A-Ways from Seth Godin Interview”
Wow, thanks so much for this great blog post! Yep, these are the takeaways I also had after talking to Seth. I enjoyed our conversation a lot and as always, learned a lot from him. Watch out for the Productive! Magazine #10 coming next week with the entire interview and a few great articles that will go with it.
Again, thanks for writing this – your blog post made my day
Hi Michael, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I actually wrote a longer version with several other great points, but decided to keep it shorter in hopes that it would trigger people to view the interview instead of providing them with an alternative to viewing it. There’s fine line between supporting and usurping. I’m glad you saw it the way I meant it.
Best wishes,
Dawn