First of all, if you’ve never been to the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the place is amazing! As usual, Bryan Elliott kicked off another great LinkedOC event and it was great to catch up with old friends.
I saw Seth Godin speak at LinkedOC last year. He’s always inspiring and motivates you to push your creative potential. That’s what I feel when I read his blog, when I read his books and when I see him speak. Inspired, motivated and ready to kick some *ss!
Takeaways:
- Take initiative and make something happen. As Seth likes to say, “don’t be a cafeteria lady.” Don’t wait for permission. Quit being afraid. Start now!
- “When you run towards the thing you’re afraid of, that’s when you know you’re doing art.” Truth is, you have to step outside of your comfort zone. When you do that, that’s when you know you’re headed in the right direction.
- You’re either “racing to the top” (creating art) or racing to the bottom. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather race to the top (no matter how hard, the climb).
- Think about what you can do to stand out not what you can do to fit in more.
- Question why you do what you do but more importantly, question why you don’t do what you don’t do. What are you waiting for? Take action now!
What about you? What were some of your favorite takeaways?
Giveaway Contest:
I have an extra copy of “Poke the Box
So to enter to win a free copy, I want you to share with me (in the comments below) what you’re doing to poke the box. What are you doing to take initiative and take action to move your ideas into the real world?
Some basic rules:
- I’ll only count one comment as one entry (if you leave multiple comments that’s ok, but it’ll only count as one entry total)
- I’ll stop taking entries at midnight (PST) Sunday, March 6th.
So…tell me, what are YOU doing to poke the box?
Take initiative, pick up a copy:
Nice recap Ricardo. I have read alot of Seth's books, and am looking forward to this one. Thanks for posting this recap.
i am, as godin asks, making my own map. i'm still plotting the lines and contours, but will eventually figure out where i am and how to get to my next place.
I am on the board on a non-profit in Maryland that provides clothing for k-6 homeless and poor families, so children can go to school. Follow me twitter at @rbmoser
I was the cafeteria lady ouch! I am that I am….I want more! Every day living in the moment and never giving up! Even though my un-employment benefits just washed up and I got laid-off of that cafeteria job! Everyday I re-invent and find new ways to create and hope ♥
Oh look I made the slideshow! Sweet. Thinking about poking the box… I feel like I've been doing it all my life. When something doesn't exist, I create it. When there was no art club in high school, I started one. When I moved to a new place and didn't have a playgroup, I organized one. And when I couldn't find a job that suited me, I invented one — or at least created the conditions around me so that I worked at something I did well and enjoyed. What's more it was always a creative endeavor. My challenge now is to do something that makes a positive impact on the world.
Great recap, Ricardo! Loved the video as well.
This year has already been a big one for me, professionally. First, I finally launched my blog in January. This was my biggest “poke at the box” in that, despite having the domain, etc., all set back in October, I froze up a bit when it came to actually getting everything in order for the site go to live. I'm not sure if it was fear of being held accountable, fear of being judged, fear of running out of things to talk about, or some other fear (or some combination of all of them), but something held me back. I finally grew a pair and started running with it in January and it's been a great experience already. I enjoy writing so I finally have an outlet that's “mine” (as opposed to my employer's) to do that, and, not only have I not run out of things to talk about, but I've consistently had “too much” to talk about that I keep falling behind with getting the posts written. It's a wonderful dilemma to have.
On another note, I also just transitioned from my first-job-out-of college to a new one. One of my biggest fears, in general, has always been uncertainty so shifting to a new daily routine was quite scary. I'm incredibly happier, though, with the new gig (long story regarding the previous one), and there's definitely tremendous potential for professional growth here where I'd plateaued for a while at the previous one.
Looking forward to continued personal (blog) and professional growth this year. 🙂
I can't wait for the Six Pixels of Seperation podcast to come out Sunday. Mitch Joel recorded an interview with Seth Godin. It's going to be absolutely awesome.
As far as poking the box goes, I've not done too much of that yet. We're working on a piece of software though, that's going to change the Internet one blog at a time. The ship date is a long way off though, so right now we're practically just looking at the box. 🙂
What became of that blog challenge series thing? Did it end?
Thanks so much for the Cliffnotes on Seth's talk from the night! I didn't have a chance to listen as intently as I would have liked, so they're truly invaluable.
I actually have an idea to poke the box for the next event I do for LinkedOC. It's under wraps for now, but stay tuned. It's going to be something a photographer has never done (as far as I know) at an event before! Looking forward to staying in touch Ricardo!
Best Regards,
Brian Carter
Pixel That! Photography
http://www.pixelthatphotos.com