282: Seth Godin - You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn To See

Nov 5, 2018

Seth Godin, bestselling author and marketing thinker known for Purple Cow and This Is Marketing, shares short, punchy reflections. He talks about embracing failure, honest self-talk during slumps, the power of generous initiative, why culture is strategy, and choosing side projects to protect creativity. Conversations touch on storytelling, luck versus persistence, and writing with an economy of words.

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ADVICE

Use Honest Self Talk To Recover Fast

Use honest self-talk to reframe setbacks instead of self-criticism.
Seth suggests saying this isn't a slump and reminding yourself your offer is valuable, turning interactions into gifts rather than failures.

ANECDOTE

Chip Conley's Random Acts Of Initiative

Seth tells the Chip Conley story: Chip sent notes to five students to form weekly brainstorming sessions at Stanford.
Those ~30 sessions changed all five lives and cost Chip little beyond risking rejection when he asked.

ADVICE

Initiate By Offering Help Not Hustling

Take initiative by offering help, not hustling for favors.
Seth warns against transactional outreach and recommends amplifying connections through generosity rather than asking for immediate gain.

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The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #282: Seth Godin - You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn To See

"In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible."

Show Notes:

Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
- It changes over time
- Must be willing to fail - "Okay... Will I do things that might not work?"
Some of Seth's failures: many teaching mistakes, tried to build philanthropy platform that failed, blog has failed at times
How to handle a slump? - "There's no such thing as a long slump."
- Stephen J. Gould - "The real problem is how you respond to the failure. You can't tell yourself a story that's not true."
- Have honest self talk -- "This isn't a slump."
Stanford MBA - Friends with Chip Conley. "Everyone there feels like a fraud or an arrogant jerk. I felt like I was drowning. The sessions with Chip changed my life." Chips "Random Acts of Initiative" were life changing. Chip taking initiative and not fearing rejection. Remarkable.
Empathy - A mentor wants to see you do things that are bold, leap forward because of them.
Be a mentor - "Make the world shinier. Bring life to more causes."
Economy of words - "I made the decision to write like I talk."
- "Talking isn't better because you're afraid."
The book publishing world and why Seth chose to traditionally publish This Is Marketing
What percentage of Seth's success is luck? "98.2%" The final 1.8% is "relentless persistence." "The 98.2% is the parent lottery."
How to deal with rejection after rejection...
"Culture IS strategy. How we treat people. It's hard to do the things we're proud of."
- "Great ones have better clients."
Side hustle advice -- Start it on the side so that you don't have to make money at it right away. You can choose your clients and never just "do it for the money."
- "Exactly. Great advice."
Keys to storytelling - "We have too much stuff."
- Better understand the story you're telling yourself.
Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
Use the "Get To Know You Document"

"Luck for me is 98.2% of it. The other 1.8% is relentless persistence."

Social Media:

Follow Seth's writing on Twitter: @ThisIsSethsBlog
Read: This Is Marketing
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