10 Priceless Insights From Seth Godin’s “Leap First”

Scott Greer
2 min readJul 9, 2015

--

Earlier this year, Seth Godin released a masterful audiobook called Leap First: Creating Work That Matters. I recently listened to it and wanted to share some of his most inspirational words of wisdom about art, business and life in general. Believe me when I say that anyone will benefit from hearing this book.

Pro tip: if you need a super quick boost of inspiration, simply read through the bold statements below and you’ll be ready to seize the day.

  1. Art is anything we do as a human where we bring emotional labor to the table to make a connection.
  2. Meaningful work is to change something for the better. The only people who are comfortable enough to make change are comfortable (or eager) enough to make art.
  3. There is a scarcity of people who care enough to make something beautiful and do work that might fail. If it can’t fail, it isn’t art.
  4. As creators, we must enhance and embrace tension.
  5. Once you accept the fact that your story might not work, you can forgive yourself and make a piece of art.
  6. The person who fails the most will win. In order to keep failing, you have to be good enough to keep playing.
  7. Your goal is not to change everyone. Your goal is to change someone. Stop comparing yourself to others.
  8. The goal is to be able to live a life where your habit is to ship and look for the opportunity to be generous.
  9. We have an obligation to do work that has meaning and will be missed when we are gone.
  10. The world does not owe you a living, but it has opened the door for you to make a difference.

--

--

Scott Greer

Nashville-based marketer + writer + photographer. Father of two. Sharing thoughts on tech, creativity, parenting and life.