Quotes from Seth Godin

Yes, you're an imposter. But you're an imposter acting in service of generosity, seeking to make things better. When we embrace imposter syndrome instead of working to make it disappear, we choose the productive way forward. The imposter is proof that we're innovating, leading, and creating.

A combination of more convenience, better service, aggressive pricing, and better results will make you irresistible to some people. It won't work for everyone. Some folks may never switch. But that's okay. You don't need everyone. Just enough to keep you busy and the cash flowing!

When we recognize the fraud for what it is, we feel incredibly stupid. Something more than our bank accounts is damaged—our egos are damaged. As a result, it's almost impossible for the marketer to regain our trust.

Don't fall in love with a tactic and defend it forever. Instead, decide once and for all whether you're in a market or not. And if you are, get through that Dip.

Faking your way through isn't going to work. Hoping that the sales process will go away won't help either. As a bootstrapper you must sell yourself and your business. Otherwise, no business.

The market wants to see you persist. It demands a signal from you that you're serious, powerful, accepted, and safe.

Deep change is difficult, and worth it

Quitting is difficult. Quitting requires you to acknowledge that you're never going to be #1 in the world. At least not at this. So it's easier just to put it off, not admit it, settle for mediocre.

You do people a service when you make better things and make it easy to talk about them. The best reason someone talks about you is because they're actually talking about themselves: "Look at how good my taste is." Or perhaps, "Look at how good I am at spotting important ideas.

When those in power use shame to bully the weak into compliance, they are stealing from us. They tell us that they will expose our secrets (not good enough, not hardworking enough, not from the right family, made a huge mistake once) and will use the truth to exile us from our tribe. This shame, the shame that lives deep within each of us, is used as a threat. And when those in power use it, they take away part of our humanity.

Response is always better than reaction.

if it scares you, it might be a good thing to try

We have little choice but to move beyond quality and seek remarkable, connected, and new. Remarkable, as you've already figured out, demands initiative.

Life is actually far better than it is in the movies. And it takes longer.

Leaders understand a different calculus. Leaders understand that change is not only omnipresent, but the key to success.

When you identify the discomfort, you've found the place where a leader is needed. If you're not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it's almost certain you're not reaching your potential as a leader.

When people quit, they are often focused on the short-term benefits. In other words, "If it hurts; stop!

Pick me, pick me" acknowledges the power of the system and passes responsibility to someone else to initiate. Even better, "pick me, pick me" moves the blame from you to them. If you don't get picked, it's their fault, not yours. If you do get picked, well, they said you were good, right? Not your fault anymore. Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself.

The web has made kicking ass easier to achieve, and mediocrity harder to sustain. Mediocrity now howls in protest." The

the magic was in the guts it took to carefully curate the customers. Choose the people you serve, choose your future.

Successful people don't just ride out the Dip. They don't just buckle down and survive it. No, they lean into the Dip. They push harder, changing the rules as they go. Just because you know you're in the Dip doesn't mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don't last quite as long when you whittle at them.

The only way to get what you're worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about.

For the rest of us, it's not about what you're born with, it's about what you do.

When access to information was limited, we needed to load student sup with facts. Now, when we have no scarcity of facts or the access to them, we need to load them up with understanding.