Here are some more summaries (kinda) from Seth Godin’s blog. It’s been part of my daily reading for quite a while now and I guess you could say I’ve started a collection.

I’ll take from where we last left off.

Inconvenient!

The stuff that matters is almost always inconvenient. If it’s not, you might be mistaken about what matters.

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What sort of bicycle?

Little decisions compound and then anchor systems. Our commitment to defending sunk costs keeps those systems long after they’re no longer serving a purpose.

Until, one day, we look at our bicycle and wonder, “how did I end up here?”

PS: I used to ask myself that. A lot.

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The seduction of compliance

Compliance is seductive because it comes with short-term prizes. If you fit in all the way, it might feel a bit less frightening. The center of the herd may in fact be safer, but the view is terrible.

We don’t spend nearly enough time celebrating responsibility. Our niche in the hierarchy is actually irrelevant, particularly for those you helped today. What matters is our willingness to see what’s happening and to sign up to do something about it.

It begins with figuring out just who is pushing so hard for you to comply.

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The A.R.E. skills matter more than ever

They stand for:

Agreeableness, which isn’t the same as agreeing.

Receptivity, which is our openness to better.

Enthusiasm, which connects the two, and it’s contagious.

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The lens or the problem?

Two useful approaches:

Name your lens. If you have an instinct that you rely on when solving a problem, naming it is a helpful way to bring it on when needed, and to set aside when it’s not.

Name the other lenses. If there’s someone else in the world who solves problems differently than you, perhaps you could bring their point of view to the table, even (especially) if it doesn’t come naturally.

PS: Or you could go to law school.

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Living in hyperbole

Greatest hits, by their nature, are unusual. And if the media you’re absorbing is selected from a billion possible clips, don’t be surprised if you start to believe that the unusual is normal.

It’s not.

*****

To be continued …