I am a big Seth Godin fan.
For those of you who are...it's a no-brainer.
For those of you who don't know who Seth Godin is...I would attempt to describe him as a self-help business guru coming from a slightly tech viewpoint.
That really doesn't do him justice. All I can say is...Dude knows!
I have enjoyed many of his books, but his new book, Linchpin...is a monster!
I don't go nuts over every book I read but this one is a MUST READ!
Yes...run out and buy it now!
While it starts out great...imploring all of us to find our unique inner art that makes us indispensable at work...the middle section on THE RESISTANCE is the part that slew me.
The Resistance AKA our "Lizard Brain" is that supposed voice of reason in our head that tells us to sit down, shut up, and do your (day) job.
It is the voice of self-defeat that tells us our ideas are not good enough...long before we even muster the guts to verbalize them to anyone.
The resistance is that little voice in the back of your head, the one that tells you that it will never work, the one that insists you check your email one last time, the one that worries that people will laugh at you.
The resistance loves committees and it hates a mission. The resistance creates fear and uncertainty, and it will do almost anything to keep you from being noticed. There’s a biological underpinning to the resistance–your amygdala. The amygdala is the pre-historic portion of your brain, located near the brain stem. It’s responsible for fear and anger and revenge and sex and survival. When the amygdala is aroused, when it feels threatened, when there’s a sense that people might actually laugh at you, it takes over. It rises up in anxiety and shuts you down. You know that voice well...and so do I. Seth describes anxiety as "practicing failure in advance". The good news is that Seth also offers a detailed plan for defeating the resistance. I'm not going to give it away. You are going to have to read it for yourself. If you only read one book this year...this is the one.
