The Practice: Shipping Creative Work

by Seth Godin

Reassurance is futile—and focusing on outcomes at the expense of process is a shortcut that will destroy your work.

Kiasu is the Hokkien word for “the fear of being left behind” or not getting enough. It’s a common affliction, not only in Singapore, where the phrase originates, but around the world.

As William Gibson has said, “The future is already here—it’s just not very evenly distributed.” Every cultural change follows precisely the same uneven path.

Gratitude isn’t a problem. But believing we’re owed gratitude is a trap.

I have a hundred examples. Here’s one from Nobel winner Bob Dylan: “It’s like a ghost is writing a song like that. It gives you the song and it goes away, it goes away. You don’t know what it means. Except the ghost picked me to write the song.”* This is nonsense. There is no ghost. Dylan is either fooling us or fooling himself.

Stories are real. And stories can change. If your story isn’t working for you, you can find a better one to take its place.