The Practice: Shipping Creative Work
The Practice is by certainly one of the most amazing books I read in the past few years.
I always thought what will I respond if someday someone asked me this question?
“What’s the book you gifted the most?”
I know I really want to say “The Practice by Seth Godin”, but I’m also pretty sure that it’s not going to happen, because this book is for “Someone, Not Everyone” (Quote from the book).
The Practice is definitely one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life.
It’s a myth busting train breaking through limiting beliefs and mental barriers at high speed. It’s packed with new perspectives, and slaps you with truth on every page turn.
There are a couple of powerful mental punches waiting to land on your deeply held, but limiting beliefs.
Every few page, I was getting slapped by the reality and the truth that was sticking out of the book, and I loved every single one.
Dance with fearSLAP!Seth GodinThe Practice
Reassurance is futileSLAP!Seth Godin
Leaders are impostorsSLAP!
Authenticity is a trapSLAP!Seth GodinThe Practice
We're always falling. The good news is that there's nothing to hold ontoLeft Hook!
Staggering. Naked. Decisive. Tough. Caring. Real. Very real.
The Practice is packed with timeless and profound wisdom that resonated deeply with the core of my existence.
The Practice helped me with the mental brakes I was struggling with for so long.
The “I’m not good enough”, the perfectionist, and the “Not ready yet” voices that were holding me back for years.
I was hiding, and “Hiding is the opposite of generosity” (Quote from the book).
Hoarding is away to hide from the fear of being insufficient. Hoarding isolates you from the poeple who count on you and need you the most.
Is this book for you?
It could be if:
- You are struggling with shipping your work, whatever it is, code, blog posts, Youtube videos, music etc
- You think you have something to contribute in any form, something that someone may need, or want, or enjoy, but you just don’t release it and you don’t know why.
- You have a ton of unpublished articles, code for opensource projects, half-build ideas, books, etc
- You know you are blocking yourself, but can’t find out why, or what the block is
Highlights
This is probably the first book that I highlighted so much, here are some of my highlights:
The strategy of “seeking your calling” gives you a marvelous place to hide.
Only after we do the difficult work does it become our calling. Only after we trust the process does it become our passion.
“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.
If you need a guarantee you’re going to win before you begin, you’ll never start.
The alternative is to trust the process, to do our work with generosity and intent, to accept every outcome, the good ones as well as the bad.
Before you are a “bestselling author”, you’re an author, and authors write. Before you are an “acclaimed entrepreneur”, you’re simply someone who is building something.
“I am ________ but thet just don’t realize it yet” is totally different from “I’m not ______ because they didn’t tell me I was”
The truth is simpler: If you want to be a leader, then lead. If you want to be a writer, then write.
It might be that the most generous thing to do is to disappoint someone in the short run.
Generous means choosing to focus on the changes we seek to make.
While it’s calming to be reassured, it never lasts. As soon as we hearthe words, the feeling begins to fade Reassurance is simply a short-term effort to feel good about the likely outcome. Reassurance amplifies attachment. It shifts our focus from how we persistently and generously pursue the practice to how we maneuver to make sure that we’re successful.
What is it for?
It’s easy to decide to avoid being clear about “what’s it for”. If you announce what something is supposed to do, it’s difficult to avoid a feeling of failure when it doesn’t do what you said it was going to do.
Who is it for?
Everyone won’t hear you. They won’t understand you. And most of all, they won’t act.
The trap s in the generic. In the cloudy persona, the undetermined person, the vague generality.
Your change is too important to be wasted on most people.
Someone, Not Everyone
If you’re building a bass guitar or growing an orchid or selling an electric SUV, why are you concerned with what everyone thinks about it?
Would I recommend it?
100%
Would I read it again?
Already did, and will do again.
10 out of 10.