This video is classic Seth Godin. Short, loaded, and hugely underrated. In under 4 minutes, Seth delivers what I would consider some of the most important lessons uploaded on Youtube, but it’s only gotten around 8 thousand views in the last 2 years.
I’m sure we can all relate to this. Students get it, employees get it, artists as well. This is because learning is such an integral part of living. We learn even when we don’t try to. But with such constant learning comes certain responsibilities. If we care enough, it entails the responsibility to matter, to make something out of wisdom, or to pass it on. Otherwise, there is no point to the time and effort put into it. Learning alone is not enough; it is by choosing to matter that we complete this learning process.
Choosing to matter, however, often takes more courage than we’re prepared to give. We subject ourselves to judgment and rejection. We expose ourselves to the high probability of failure, whether that means creating a product, starting a brand, providing some sort of service. For me, it’s writing on this platform and caring enough to put my ideas and experiences into words to create something of value (hopefully). Clicking on that “Publish” button never fails to put me on the edge, not to mention the overthinking that goes into writing every post.
To ship it before it’s ready, because it’s never ready.
Seth Godin
It’s not always easy, but to me and I guess to the people who take the time to read all this, it matters. So in that sense, it has to be done.