I Saw Seth Godin’s Socks Today

The picture in my head – and I wish I had an actual picture – is Seth Godin, dressed in a suit pulling up his pant legs to show us his socks. It's so classic. Both socks are black but I think one has multi-colored polka dots and the other has stripes of all colors. This man doesn't take himself too seriously and he's a very creative thinker.

“The people who are succeeding are thinking about how to GIVE SERVICE to others!” When we intend to make a contribution it helps us too.

Here are some of my impressions:

• Who decides who is best at something? WE do. It's all by agreement. Once it's decided that someone or something is the best there is, it's tough to change the consensus. We go to Facebook to see what other people think of us. We read the NY Times bestseller list to see what other people are reading. Then we read the same books.
• We often make people who quit into moral failures – but winners quit all the time – to play different games. The people who don't quit when they should are afraid of failure so they stay mediocre.
• The last thing the world needs is more noise, more clutter, or more sales pitches. “The problem with infinity is there's too much of it and there always making more.” The world will reward the unpredictable that it can't duplicate cheaply. The world needs superstars – people or businesses that are the best in the world at something. There are plenty of superstars in the entertainment business but not in other areas. There are so many different niches out and opportunities to push through the dip and be the best in the world at something.
• “The dip” is when you face the difficulties you always encounter on the path to greatness. Life is a series of dips (or perhaps challenges?). You can either choose another dip or keep pushing through. How do you know you're in a dip? You PANIC (I get that!). Quitting isn't a moral failure it can be an opportunity for transformation and is always part of the journey to being the best.
• In any market only about 1% of the people actually contribute and that 1% drives most of the business.

Someone asked Seth about his personal dips – a compelling question – he said he had lots of them. Yet he didn't want to talk about himself. Earlier he said he had ADD and is just really lazy.

He did say that his company Squidoo is in a dip right now. They cut out the superfluous, focused, and will push through. Either be the best or stop right now or find other dips to push through and become a superstar. That's what I got today. That and one more thing. If your a superstar – you don't have to worry if your socks match.