Godin on “What is Success?”

SIMPLE SATURDAY – Thank you, Seth Godin, for a nugget on inspiration and navigation. While the first answer covers a good portion of reality, for those who constantly feel the need to strive and push further, the second answer is golden.

Q: Seth, what was the first thing that came to mind when he said “the fastest way to success?”

Seth Godin: So, yes, Tom was putting me on the spot, good for you. I have two answers. The Buddhist answer is: define success as what you have now and then you’re done. Right? You have this world, you have this life, you have this reputation. Call it success. Make the best of it because if your goal is to get somewhere you’re not, well, you need to think hard about why you want to get there and what you are willing to give up to get there. So the first place I start is to say that most of us have way more than we could ever imagine and sometimes we’re in such a hurry go somewhere else that we forget how precious the things we have are.

The second answer I have, as a wordsmith, is that there is no doubt that the fastest way to success looks an enormous amount like the slowest way to success. Shortcuts rarely are, and if they were, they wouldn’t be shortcuts. They’d be the way everybody goes. What we have discovered is that people who take shortcuts, who shave a little bit from their ethics, who hustle, these people aren’t happy and they’re not successful. They’re just looking for the next short cut. But at the same time the person who builds a platform based on generosity and trust, and repeats it and repeats it — headed for a lifetime of it – is successful today, and is successful tomorrow, and they are successful forever. IT’s a huge mistake to define success in somebody else’s eyes. Why would you give up control over that feeling? Why can’t you decide what success is and not leave it up to somebody else? And if you decide that success is: I am a trusted person who is capable of being generous and I’m going to do more of it tomorrow, then I think you’ve made it.”

– Seth Godin Wants You to Be His Legacy – The Ziglar Show