The Practice

by Seth Godin

The magic of the creative process is that there is no magic

Shipping, because it doesn’t count if you don’t share it. Creative, because you’re not a cog in the system. You’re a creator, a problem solver, a generous leader who is making things better by producing a new way forward. Work, because it’s not a hobby. You might not get paid for it, not today, but you approach it as a professional. The muse is not the point, excuses are avoided, and the work is why you are here.

There’s a practice available to each of us—the practice of embracing the process of creation in service of better. The practice is not the means to the output, the practice is the output, because the practice is all we can control.

So we focus on the outcome, because that’s how we know we followed the steps properly.

This practice is available to us—not as a quick substitute, a recipe that’s guaranteed to return results, but as a practice. It is a persistent, stepwise approach that we pursue for its own sake and not because we want anything guaranteed in return.

It’s a path defined by resilience and generosity. It’s outward focused, but not dependent on reassurance or applause.

At the heart of the creative’s practice is trust: the difficult journey to trust in your self, the often hidden self, the unique human each of us lives with.

Askıda ekmek: there is bread on the hook. It’s an ancient tradition in Turkey. When buying a loaf at the local bakery, you can choose to pay for an extra loaf and, after bagging your purchase, the owner will hang the second loaf on a hook on the wall. If a person in need comes by, he or she can ask if there’s anything on the hook. If so, the bread is shared, and the hunger is relieved. Perhaps as important, community is built.

Perfectionism has nothing to do with being perfect.

There’s no such thing as writer’s block.

Professionals produce with intent.

Creativity is an act of l...

Leaders are im...

We become creative when we ship the work.

Good taste is a skill.

Passion is a ...

For the important work, the instructions are always insufficient. For the work we’d like to do, the reward comes from the fact that there is no guarantee, that the path isn’t well lit, that we cannot possibly be sure it’s going to work.

We don’t have to wait to be picked and we don’t have to stand by, hoping that we will feel our calling. And we certainly don’t have to believe in magic to create magic. Instead, we can model the process of the successful creatives who have come before us. We can go on a journey with our eyes wide open, trusting the process and ourselves to create our best contribution.

Artists make change happen. Artists are humans who do generous work that might not work. Artists aren’t limited to paint or museums.

recognize that it is not all about you, and that you have a communal function you can serve to help everyone get along.

you’ve been told that if you can’t win, you shouldn’t even try (but now you see that the journey is the entire point).

we can’t always do much about how we feel, particularly when it’s about something important. But we can always control our actions.

Your work is too important to be left to how you feel today.

We become what we do.

If we condition ourselves to work without flow, it’s more likely to arrive.

Flow is a symptom of the work we’re doing, not the cause of it.

Sometimes, we opt for more instead of better. But better is better than more.

“Do what you love” is for amateurs. “Love what you do” is the mantra for professionals.

Focusing solely on outcomes forces us to make choices that are banal, short-term, or selfish. It takes our focus away from the journey and encourages us to give up too early.

Sometimes I use the phrase “trust your self,” with three words instead of two. Who is “your”? Who’s doing the trusting and who’s being trusted?

there’s a huge gap between a good decision and a good outcome. A good decision is based on what we know of the options and the odds. A good outcome happens or it doesn’t: it is a consequence of the odds, not the hidden answer.

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

our intent—the intent of being of service, of making things better, of building something that matters—is an essential part of the pattern. Because most of us, most of the time, act without intent.

effective goals aren’t based on the end result: they are commitments to the process. That commitment is completely under your control, even if the end result can’t be. But the only way to have a commitment is to begin.

If you want to be a leader, then lead. If you want to be a writer, then write. “I am of service” is something each of us can choose to become. It only takes a moment to begin. And once you begin, you are.

Writers write. Runners run. Establish your identity by doing your work.

The trick isn’t a trick at all. It’s a practice that begins with trusting yourself to show up and do the work.

If the only measure of your worth is in the outcome of a transaction, not in the practice to which you’ve committed, then of course it makes sense to cut corners and to hustle.

When we do the work for the audience, we open the door to giving up our attachment to how the audience will receive the work. That’s up to them. Our job is to be generous, as generous as we know how to be, with our work.

Gratitude isn’t a problem. But believing we’re owed gratitude is a trap. The feeling of being owed (whether it’s true or not) is toxic. Our practice demands we reject it.

Art solves a problem for anyone who touches our work. This is the generous act of turning on a light. Not only does the light help you read, it helps everyone else in the room as well. The thing is, shipping your art is for the audience. You’ve already seen it, understood it, and experienced it. But that’s insufficient because without sharing the work, you can’t make change happen. It’s not enough to please yourself.

If we failed, would it be worth the journey? Do you trust yourself enough to commit to engaging with a project regardless of the chances of success? The first step is to separate the process from the outcome. Not because we don’t care about the outcome. But because we do.

Any idea withheld is an idea taken away. It’s selfish to hold back when there’s a chance you have something to offer.

Worrying is impossible without attachment. No one worries about the weather on Saturn, because no one is counting on the weather to be a certain way. The time we spend worrying is actually time we’re spending trying to control something that is out of our control.

Reassurance is futile. The reason is simple: we need an infinite amount of reassurance, delivered daily, to build up our confidence. There will never be enough. Instead of seeking reassurance and buttressing it with worry, we could make the choice to go back to work instead.

The practice is choice plus skill plus attitude. We can learn it and we can do it again. We don’t ship the work because we’re creative. We’re creative because we ship the work.

It’s insulting to call a professional talented. She’s skilled, first and foremost. Many people have talent, but only a few care enough to show up fully, to earn their skill. Skill is rarer than talent. Skill is earned. Skill is available to anyone who cares enough.

You manage to find an hour every day to bathe, to eat, to commute, to watch Netflix, to check your email, to hang out, to swipe at your phone, to read the news, to clean the kitchen … Show us your hour spent on the practice and we’ll show you your creative path. You already know what to do to be creative. And you already know how to do it. You’ve done it before, at least once. At least once you’ve said or done something insightful, generous, and original. At least once you’ve solved a problem or given someone a hand by shining a light. The practice simply asks you to do it more than once, to do it often enough that it becomes your practice.

Ship creative work. On a schedule. Without attachment and without reassurance.

Leaders make art and artists lead.