Generosity is a core principle for Seth Godin.
And it shines through in his creative life and 21 best-selling books. I liked his approach so much that I updated this post, on top of the other posts I have wriiten about Seth Godin. I wanted to remind you all of his relentless talents.
Since this post, he has written another new books, that has been getting rave reviews.
The Song of Significance is a manifesto about the power of teams and collaborative work. In this link, Seth offers several videos and interviews about his book, his work and his approach to life. One short video included an eye-catching caption entitled, Why don’t people work hard?
In his other new book, The Practice, he shows you how to live a creative life and how to be productive in the creative work you want to do. He stresses the importance of three main ingredients for a successful creative practice, curiosity, generosity and connection.
Seth offers a one-minute video explaining how you can create magic, with these three ingredients. It is on his blog at
(Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to directly embed his video here, but his short video is well worth the extra click.)
Seth also emphasizes that practice, and doing the work, are the real magic, even doing bad work.
I remember an interview he gave a while ago. He surprised me by saying that he didn’t really believe in writer’s block. He said there was a simple fix – start writing badly. And in the process of sitting down to write badly, some good writing is bound to happen.
I love this attitude and the way that he says it so simply (Seth’s blog, January 12, 2012).
Of course you can.
If you care enough.
It’s not easy, it might not work and it takes effort, but the opportunity is there.
It helps to do it on purpose and it helps to do it in community.
I also love it when Seth gets eloquent. In a recent blog, he described various types of kindness. Here is an excerpt, from his recent blog, January 18, 2021.
And then there is the kindness of dignity. Of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. The kindness of seeing someone for the person that they are and can become, and the realization that everyone, including me and you, has a noise in our heads, a story to be told, fear to be danced with and dreams to be realized.
And here’s another: The kindness of not seeking to maximize short-term personal gain. The kindness of building something for the community, of doing work that matters, of finding a resilient, anti-selfish path forward.
Kindness multiplies and it enables possibility. When we’re of service to people, we have the chance to make things better.Wow, so right and so big-hearted. I can’t help but keep reading it over and over. Thank you Seth.
I hope to able to write like this one day. In the meantime, I will keep writing, however badly it may turn out.
Until next time, let our warm hearts soar!
Michael
michael@aWarmHeart.ca
And thank you for caring that little bit extra – it really makes a big difference.
