Seth Godin’s book What To Do When It’s Your Turn poses a lot of interesting questions to stir up the ‘ol existential crisis. Particularly if you suffer from procrastination-adjacent perfectionism.
It’s a visual journey that speaks to your self-doubts head on. The mystical motivation phenomenon, the abyss that opportunity can create, and more relatively hard-to-swallow ideas that one needs to hear—creatives especially.
I’ve read it a few times and I picked it back up recently to page through. The bold “Motivation is for amateurs” quote from Chuck Close on page 43 reminded me why it had been so impactful and how far I’d strayed from the core lessons it shares with you (or at you if you find bolded text a smidge too forceful).
If you’re looking for a push when it comes to trying out new concepts and exploring unvalidated ideas that you may have been putting off for fear of failure—this is a great read. Your takeaways may be different depending on your own circumstances, but here are some that I need to remind myself of more often.
Lesson 1: The opportunity AND problem is freedom
Godin goes into how today we have the opportunity to create whatever we want. But at the same time, this expansive, never ending perception of freedom stops us from moving forward.
Analysis paralysis, overthinking that next step.
All incredibly familiar feelings.
Yet he makes it clear that we need to make a choice. Even if we get it wrong (which we inevitably will). However, this quote continues to ring true:
“ The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing. — Seth Godin
The reassurance that not everything has to be okay as long as we keep moving forward and learning as we do so.
✍️ Extra Reading: Have a look at my Jar Concept blog post to help you get started when it comes to experimenting with new ideas.
Lesson 2: No such thing as writer’s block
This is a tough one: Waiting for feelings of motivation or sparks of inspiration holds you back from actually creating. Another form of procrastination.
I’m always waiting for the “right moment” to follow through on creative projects (read: creative ideas) and, funnily enough, after all these years that moment has yet to come.
Godin points out that in order to take action, we need to develop a habit.
The word habit makes me shrink back and hiss like a vampire exposed to the sun. Because habits are viewed as either good or bad, there are a lot of negative connotations surrounding the word.
Whenever resistance comes up about forming habits, someone inevitably recommends the book Atomic Habits (a book I have yet to read and probably won’t) by James Clear. Some people rave about how it changed their lives, others throw it across the room in frustration as it doesn’t account for neurodivergent experiences.
Everyone is different and forming habits is one of those awful things one has to figure out for themselves. I guess reading books and articles can help (getting meta here), but ultimately it’s about testing and adjusting your approach.
Some tactics work well for some habits (like habit stacking for remembering to brush your teeth AND wash and moisturise your face in the mornings) and some tactics work well for others (like time blocking or scheduling time in your calendar for specific actions that you want to make into a habit). But it’s important to remember that this might change depending on the habit, your energy, your surroundings, and numerous other factors that you don’t realise affect you until you get stuck.
How you form a habit one year might be completely different two years down the line. Test, adjust, iterate. You won’t get it right the first time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. You might just need to try it a different way.
“ The book that will most change your life is the book you write*. — Seth Godin
*A frustratingly accurate take. No one can tell you how to live except you.
Lesson 3: False evidence turns into fear
Overthinking and worrying creates bucket loads of worst case scenarios that, in turn, fills us with fear and dread. Particularly the fear of failure. You can’t fail if you don’t try.
But is that a satisfying way to live life? Hiding in the shadows waiting for the illusive “right moment” that will guarantee that you won’t fail? There is, unfortunately, no guarantee that you won’t fail. Much like there’s no guarantee that you will fail. Schrödinger’s success or something like that.
“ The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore” — Vincent Van Gogh
Rather than taking action, we talk ourselves out of doing. These imaginary threats that we stew up in our mind give us an excuse not to try. Even if one of these worse-case scenarios were to happen, we won’t ever find out if we don’t take action.
📩 Must-Read Newsletter: If you’re looking for a weekly dose of inspiration to inspire action, check out Jessica L. Williams’s fabulous newsletter #JessPicks. I have so many of the tips, tools, and quotes she’s shared over time saved to my Notion Digital Garden to go back to when I need a friendly push forward. 🌱
Lesson 4: Don’t take failure personally
Godin poses the question: Are you taking it seriously or are you taking it personally?
Which is another direct call out on its own. The way we grow up, I think, is partially responsible for this. Taking responsibility for your work at school, getting reprimanded when it’s not good enough. The connection becomes: Your work = Your worth.
And that sticks with you all the way up through university and your work career. After decades of internalising this unconscious “false evidence,” trying to separate your work and your self-worth is a difficult and impossible feeling task.
“ If we can live with failure, we’re actually more likely to avoid it. — Seth Godin
However, failure depends on your definition of success. Not the definition of those around you—friends, family, colleagues. Their definitions of success are unique to them and their own circumstances so their perception of success for you actually has no merit.
It’s hard to see it that way as social beings who want to be loved and accepted by those around us, but the Hollywood-definition of success doesn’t fit us all (and shouldn’t, really).
By shifting your approach from taking what you do personally, to taking it seriously—as any professional would—you’ll be able to approach it with intention rather than insecurity and the self-conscious need to succeed lest you fail at being human. Which, at the end of the day, you can’t.
You are human. We all make mistakes. Maybe it feels like others don’t, but that’s because we can never truly understand what others are thinking, feeling, or experiencing. We can only know ourselves. And so our definition of success is utterly, totally and completely up to us. (No pressure, I promise.)
📚 Book Reccy: The Success Myth by Emma Gannon is a good book to start with to help you redefine your definition of success (something that will need reevaluating every couple of months or years anyway). Filled with anecdotes and questions to get you thinking, you’ll be able to focus more on what your definition of success is right now. Not the success criteria that was pushed on you when you were growing up, but the you that’s here today.
Putting these lessons together
These lessons only touch on a few hard truths that Godin lays out in his book. It’s by no means a long read, but it does take longer to digest than most.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with these four steps that Godin shares from Monika Hardy:
- Notice
- Dream
- Connect
- Do
Putting things out there into the digital cosmos can be intimidating, but there’s no way that you’ll improve if you don’t try.
Something to think on this week—and forever as these feelings resurface here and there.
