
Seth Godin – Full Stop Failure. - AndrewWarner
http://www.subvertmagazine.com/blog/seth-godin/
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SubvertMagazine
There's also an inspiring story in the comments well worth checking out from a
reader who failed more than most of us but is doing a terrific job getting
back on his feet.

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itmag
Despite having heard this meme (ie "fail more") a LOT of times before, I have
to give Seth Godin thumbs up. It's easy to get stuck in an Internet self-help
bubble where everyone says these things and you get blasé. But keep in mind
that:

1) The reason "everyone" is saying it because he keeps hammering it into us.
Yes, he is a bit repetitive sometimes but so what? The message is still good.

2) In the "real world", these kinds of things are far out. Try telling someone
in Sweden that it's cool to fail and get rejected a few times in life and they
just look at you with a look that says "death before dishonor!" (only less bad
ass than it sounds in writing).

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SubvertMagazine
hey. I think it's a fundamental all successful people come to learn, (fail
more) despite what most of us are taught at school. To me, meme suggests
something more temporary and unique. In my experience, the higher you go, the
more fundamental the lessons get. I think it's actually an easier environment
to learn to fail in the digital world. Split testing and the like is a lot
less painful that cold calling on a phone which was part and parcel of any
entrepreneurs schooling back in the day. Good luck with your magazine. Paul.

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itmag
Agreed.

And thanks! Looks like you have a cool operation running, with some
similarities to ours. How long have you been doing it?

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SubvertMagazine
a few years, its a project that has evolved quite a bit, we did a lot of
offline stuff, organising opportunities for creatives, and an offline
magazine.

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Jun8
This is the best thing I've read in a while, Godin is exceptionally perceptive
and open. The following resonated especially for me:

"For me, I feel opportunity and don’t want to waste it. There’s this buffet,
this all you can eat candy shop, this endless selection of mp3s… what are you
going to choose, what are you going to do, what impact are you going to make?

How dare I waste it. How dare anyone. "

I mentor high school kids and would want to pass this exact feeling on. It's
not easy, though. It requires a certain mindset to tune to this and not
everybody can or will do it evidently.

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SubvertMagazine
To me it's optimism. Something really hard to teach kids who've been brought
up in a pessimistic family. (probably the majority) That's one of the reasons
I push to learn about people's childhoods. To contrast and compare the results
of different upbringings and extract useful tactics. Funny thing about kids is
they can go left or right, the worst conditions can produce a diamond, whilst
his or her siblings end up with a life of misery. Glad you got some value from
the interview. Paul.

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brc
Gordon Ramsay is the example that pops to mind, if you read his autobiography.
He is the driven to succeed man who never sits still, while his brother is a
helpless heroin addict. Both came from the same family. There's probably a
yin/yang in there as well, as one brother tries harder to distance himself
from the family, and the other sinks deeper because he has a statistical
outlier for an immediate sibling to compare himself to.

But what makes the rocker switch go one way or the other in childhood? It's
funny, because I was thinking about this very topic not long before reading
this interview and the comments here, but in relation to food attitudes. Does
the way food is treated in a household determine whether we over or under eat
as time goes by? Is it the same for pessimism and optimism in terms of
motivation as well?

I don't know the answers but it's good to think about.

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SubvertMagazine
There's a whole science to whether you were born first, second, third etc. And
I think Malcolm Gladwell picked up on the time of year you are born, having a
huge effect on your experience in school, at the top or bottom end of the
class. I'm absolutely positive you're right about the food thing. As for the
issue of how much can we change these things, well I agree with Seth's answer
to that, I'm sure it's better to believe we can, than to believe we can't.
People like Martin Seligman can help us break down what optimism is and make
it into a habit with his books like "Learned Optimism". I think there are two
important factors for changing these things. 1) Understand how deeply they are
implanted in us from a young age. These attitudes have deep deep roots. To
change them you have to dig deep. 2) That digging deep can actually happen
quickly IF enough pressure is applied. The strength of the emotion you attach
to the job makes a huge difference. I talk about anger in the interview
because the negative emotions are as powerful, if not more for starting the
process of change that the positive ones. People change in an instant when
something happens that makes them highly emotional (child or adult). Whether
its extreme humiliation, fear, loss. I think the so called "negative" emotions
are more linked to immediate survival than everyday "positive" emotions. So
when confronted with them they give us more power to make deeper decisions and
change how we think and operate. On a practical level, if you're trying to
change something, always make sure that you start that process clearly
identifying WHY you want to change. From both the negative perspective and the
positive perspective. What makes you so angry or embarrassed that you want to
move away from it forever. And what would you be happy to move towards. PS.
we've also done a lot of interviews (many not published yet) with some of the
world's top personal trainers and fitness experts. I've also done a course on
changing and sticking with healthy habits, due out in the new year. I don't
want to turn this into a pitch, but if the food issue is of interest to you,
there's lots of great stuff to come on that topic. All the best. Paul.

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bennesvig
Two words he says in this interview have likely had a greater impact on me
than anything else I've read this year.

"Pick yourself."

He had a great blog post about it earlier this year:
[http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/03/reject-
the-t...](http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/03/reject-the-tyranny-
of-being-picked-pick-yourself.html)

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SubvertMagazine
hey Ben, we did a mini poster with a Pick Yourself theme :) 4 of them in fact.
Printer paper size. <http://www.facebook.com/subvertmagazinefan> Paul.

