Seth Godin Quotes

Learn. Ceaselessly. Learn to code, to write persuasively, to understand new technologies, to bring out the best in your team, to find underused resources and to spot patterns.

One way to think about running a successful business is to figure out what the least you can do is, and do that.

Following instructions is overrated.

In a digital world, the gift I give you almost always benefits me more than it costs.

If you use your money to create exceptional products and services, you won't need to spend it on advertising.

Caring, it turns out, is a competitive advantage, and one that takes effort, not money.

Most people have bosses who hire them to fill a slot in the work chart and to do what they are told. And most people who are doing what they are told feel safe; it feels reliable.

I hope I'm better looking than Yoda, but - I'm really interested in people who have something to say, a change they want to make and can't figure out why they can't make it spread.

If you could do tomorrow over again, would you?

Marketing isn't done by computers, it's done by people. And people who sense opportunity and have the confidence to be remarkable will always defeat defensive actions by people who have given up.

Every single important thing we do is something we didn't use to be good at, and in fact, might be something we used to fear.

The best way to be missed when you're gone is to stand for something when you're here.

If you're going to invest a valuable asset (like time), go ahead and make it productive. Use a postit or two, or some index cards or a highlighter. Not to write down stuff so you can forget it later, but to create marching orders. It's simple: if three weeks go by and you haven't taken action on what you've written down, you wasted your time.

We are leaving the industrial economy and entering the connection economy.

The easier it is to quantify, the less it's worth.

If you're not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it's almost certain you're not reaching your potential as a leader.

We've greatly exaggerated the risk of sinking, without celebrating the value of swimming.

Piracy is not the problem, obscurity is.

You don't have enough time to be both unhappy & mediocre. It's not just pointless; it's painful.

I think art is the ability to change people with your work, to see things as they are and then create stories, images, and interactions that change the marketplace.

Debt creates stress, stress creates behaviors that don't lead to happiness.

We fail when we give up too soon.

...the greatest shortage in our society is an instinct to produce. To create solutions and hustle them out the door. To touch the humanity inside and connect to the humans in the marketplace.

Defending mediocrity is exhausting.

By the time there is a case study about your industry, you are already too late.

Way more productive, I think, to push yourself to be more in the world, not to encourage yourself to hide.

You don't need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment.

Nine years of experience is very different from one year of experience, nine times.

Play a new game, not the older game but faster.

If you have no wish, how can it possibly come true?

I believe that uncertainty is really my spirit's way of whispering, I'm in flux. I can't decide for you. Something is off-balance here.

People that take responsibility are often given responsibility!

When we intentionally seek out the difficult tasks, we're much more likely to actually create value.

The way to work with a bully is to take the ball and go home. First time, every time. When there's no ball, there's no game. Bullies hate that. So they'll either behave so they can play with you or they'll go bully someone else.

Marketing is a contest for people's attention.

Whining isn't a scalable solution.

Without a specific reason for the consumer to behave, without a reward or benefit, the overwhelmed consumer will refuse.

How was your day? If your answer was "fine," then I don't think you were leading.

Great marketers don't make stuff. They make meaning.

The problem with taking offense is that it's really hard to figure out what to do with it after you're done using it. Better to just leave it on the table and walk away. Umbrage untaken quietly disappears.

In the long run, doing work that's important leads to more happiness than doing work that's merely profitable.

The first rule of doing work that matters: Go to work on a regular basis.

You can't win by being more average than average.

The first thing you do when you sit down at the computer: If you're an artist, a leader or someone seeking to make a difference, the first thing you do should be to lay tracks to accomplish your goals, not to hear how others have reacted/ responded/ insisted to what happened yesterday.

Listen to your fear but don't obey it.

Human nature is to need a map. If you’re brave enough to draw one, people will follow.

We do not need to teach students to embrace the status quo.

Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late.