Lessons From Seth Godin – Part 6 – Pick Yourself

We have been taught to stand around and wait to be picked.  We stand and wait to be picked for the kickball team.  We apply to college and hope we are picked.  We look for that perfect job and hope we are picked.

Instead of waiting around to be picked, pick yourself.  Go and do the thing that you want to do rather than thinking you need some special stamp of approval from someone else.

I had coffee with a guy yesterday who has been out of school for two years and not had a job yet that he really enjoys.  He is interested in building a company in another country at some point in the future and is seeking a new job now to get the training he needs for the future.  In the course of our discussion he started to tell me about an idea he had for helping small businesses grow and scale.  As he told me about his idea, he got more and more excited.  I said at some point “I think you should just go do that now.  You don’t need another job.  You need to do the thing you care most about.  If that doesn’t work, you can always get a job somewhere.”

I hope he takes my advice.