I love this page. The Zig Ziglar story is mentioned in the interview… in fact it’s the reason I got the interview.
I’ve also added in a Ben Zander video from TED. If you haven’t seen it before, stop reading and watch. If you’ve watched it before, watch it again.
“We become what we do.”
My favorite Zig Ziglar story :
There’s this guy fishing. Across the way, he sees someone else fishing, and he’s doing great. He keeps casting and then hauling in fish. But something strange is going on. Finally, our hero can’t control his curiosity. He calls out, “Friend, may I ask you a question?”
The successful fisherman stops and says, “Sure.”
“Well, I can’t help but notice you’re catching a lot of fish. But you keep throwing the big ones back and keeping the little ones. Would you mind telling me why you’re only keeping the little tiny fish ?”
The fisherman pauses, looks ashamed and says, “Well, you know, I’d dearly love to keep the big fish, but all I’ve got is a little bitty frying pan.”
Please don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t handle something important. Be realistic and you’ll amaze yourself.
Free Prize Inside (2004) – Seth Godin
ONE-BUTTOCK playing is what Ben Zander would have you do. To play the piano and mean it. To sit up, to lean in, to perform as if this were your very best, your very last chance to let the song inside of you get out.
V Is for Vulnerable: Life Outside the Comfort Zone (2012) – Seth Godin
The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.
What To Do When It’s Your Turn (and it’s always your turn) (2014) – Seth Godin
Did you wake up fresh today, a new start, a blank slate with resources and opportunities … or is today yet another day of living out the narrative you’ve been engaged in for years? …
It’s painful to even consider giving up the narrative we use to navigate our life.…
No, that’s too risky, especially now, in this economy. So we play it safe and go back to our story. The truth, though, is that doing what you’ve been doing is going to get you what you’ve been getting. If the narrative is getting in the way, if the archetypes you’ve been modelling and the worldview you’ve been nursing no longer match the culture, the economy, or your goals, something’s got to give.
Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?: And Other Provocations (2013) – Seth Godin
The thing is, tall sunflowers have deep and complex root systems. Without them, they’d never get very high.
This is a book about roots. About anchoring your work deeply in the dreams, desires, and communities of those you seek to serve. It’s about changing people for the better, creating work you can be proud of. And it’s about being the driver of the market, not simply being market driven.
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See (2018) – Seth Godin
If you want to change your story, change your actions first. When we choose to act a certain way, our mind can’t help but rework our narrative to make those actions become coherent. We become what we do.
The Practice: Shipping Creative Work (2020) – Seth Godin
See Also:
On Art | On Attention | On Authenticity | On Average | On Branding | On Leadership | On Mythology | On Storytelling | On Your Story
Or choose a path towards stories that mean business.
Explore the art and science of business storytelling. The rabbit hole goes way deeper than you think.
The Business Storytelling Glossary lists the concepts, ideas and definitions that use in my work. Your mileage will vary.
