How to Get More Out of Life: Make More Money & Build Something That Matters with Seth Godin

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  Do work worth doing, not 'just your job'

  Godin says that if you aren't someone who has to work today to eat tomorrow, you should raise the bar. Would you want your mom to see this work? Are you making excuses about the system or making it better? His line is 'You're not stuck in traffic, you are traffic': you take part in systems you complain about, and you can start your own thing instead.

• 02

  Every project starts with two questions: who's it for, and what's it for?

  Name the smallest viable audience: how many people would be enough? Name the change you want to make. Mel's book succeeded not because of sales but because 'the right people bought it for the right reason.' Then take the leap of empathy: other people don't want what you want, see what you see or need what you need.

• 03

  If you're for anyone, you're doomed

  Being specific lets you say 'Sorry, it's not for you' with no apology, and lets you refer people to so-called competitors. A truck driver who'll go anywhere is a commodity. One trained to move expensive collector cars becomes 'Get me Terry.' At first, being specific is harder because you have to be genuinely good.

• 04

  Being in a business is almost never about making the thing

  To be in the granola business means storytelling, logistics, packaging, customer service, finance, supply chain and managing people, not cooking. Martha Stewart isn't making granola. Ask how you want to spend your day before starting. Avoid glamorous, buzzy businesses full of hobbyists, and pick one that solves a problem for people with plenty of money to pay.

• 05

  Freelancers and entrepreneurs are different jobs; the danger is the dead zone between

  An entrepreneur uses assets, often other people's money, to build something that makes money while they sleep. A freelancer gets paid when they work and can't scale. Trouble starts when freelancers try to grow without leverage and keep 'hiring themselves' as the cheapest worker. That traps them in a zone of 8–30 people, doing every job, underpaid and stressed. Most people, Godin adds, will have happy careers working for someone else.

• 06

  Every time you're tempted to do a job yourself, ask: what am I hiding from?

  He grew one of the first internet companies to almost 100 people, with 50 reporting to him. He loved spending all day answering questions, but he was hiding from the real work of finding transformative partnerships. In the three months before the sale, he made whole parts of the operation run without him. Fear explains the lack of discipline: it's hard to pitch new business or watch someone slower do 'your' job.

• 07

  Employees have a brand too: aim to be someone they'd miss

  Every meeting sets expectations about what you'll bring. There's a shortage of people who make promises and keep them and who 'light up a room.' The goal is to be the linchpin. And if your boss doesn't deserve that, find another job.

• 08

  Familiarity doesn't sell; resolving tension does

  Marketing isn't 'getting the word out' or posting until people give in. People buy to relieve a tension, such as fear of being left out or falling behind, or hope that this will work for them. One author got 40 million views on TikTok and sold four books, because entertaining people isn't solving their problem.

• 09

  Measure who you helped, and build boundaries against irrelevant metrics

  Views, likes and followers invite 'compared to what?' and pull you into a hustle you never signed up for. If one-star reviews make you change a menu that's working, don't read them. Watch what customers actually do. Mel says she doesn't have logins for the show's download data, and she takes criticism only from people who care, who do similar work or whom she respects.

• 10

  Judge decisions by process, not outcome

  Citing poker champion Annie Duke, Godin says a lottery win was still a bad decision. Ask whether a good decision-maker with the same data would have chosen what you chose. Mel adds that you can apologize for a decision's impact on someone and still stand by it.

• 11

  Quit honestly: look for the dip, and let go of sunk costs

  From his book The Dip: quitting isn't shameful. Mel had to quit law. A dip is the hard stretch before it gets easier, like the gym in February before 'six-pack abs by June,' or year one for a real estate broker. Some paths have no dip ('you can't smoke your way through emphysema'). Your past blood, sweat and money are gone either way. Most people who walked away from sunk costs are glad they did.