I am an unabashed Godinite.
Others critique him as a copycat. Others claim he's a shark who lines his own pocket with the borrowed intellectual capital of others. Still others are frustrated by his flock of unquestioning disciples that blindly accept everything Seth mutters as gospel. People don't like the fact that his blog has commenting turned off, and still other gripe about his rating system for his blogs because they're almost always 4 or 5 stars, like Rolling Stone rating a U2 album.
But I also like U2. Maybe that's a problem. Or maybe both are as good as their reputations.
Seth just collaborated/edited/published a free e-book. You need to read it. Yes, the Platonic REALTOR is making a demand on your time. You NEED to read it. It won't take more than 40 minutes. Find it HERE:What Matters Now
For all the valid criticism of Seth, like Bono, he is beloved by other folks in the monstrously influential category. Seth used that influence for good in this example.
Included are Dave Ramsey, Guy Kawasaki, Tim O'Reilly, Michael Hyatt, Tom Peters,and other luminaries in the list above. Mercifully, Bono is not on the list (nor is Warren Buffett).
Why you should read this:
Dignity is more important than wealth. It’s going
to be a long, long time before we can make
everyone on earth wealthy, but we can help people
find dignity this year (right now if we choose to).
Dignity comes from creating your own destiny and
from the respect you get from your family,
your peers and society.
A farmer able to feed his family and earn enough
to send his kids to school has earned the respect of
the people in his village—and more important, a
connection to rest of us.
It’s easy to take dignity away from someone but
difficult to give it to them. The last few years have
taught us just how connected the entire world is—
a prostitute in the slums of Nairobi is just an
important figure in your life as the postman in the
next town. And in a world where everything is
connected, the most important thing we can do is
treat our fellows with dignity.
Giving a poor person food or money might help
them survive another day... but it doesn’t give them
dignity. There’s a better way.
Creating ways for people to solve their own
problems isn’t just an opportunity in 2010. It is an
obligation.
Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder of the Acumen Fund and
author of The Blue Sweater.
Or this: Julie Hagy's ability to diagram, elegantly, the world and it's notions is the sort of 15 second gift everyone needs in a ramped-up world. See her contribution to the left:
If you have a job, you will need to reinvent yourself (if you have not already). If you are self-employed, entrepreneurial, charitably-minded or vote, you will need to reinvent yourself (if you have not already). If you are a person of faith, lacking faith, a muse or needing a muse, you will need to reinvent yourself... if you have not done so already, it must happen soon. The old rules no longer apply. But there are an abundance of perceptual maps collected in this tiny little 82 page treasure that will guide, offend, repel, distill, elaborate, collaborate, inspire, retire, mock and bless your preconceived notions of self, space and time. Yeah, I said all that.
Don't print it out. It's an e-book, and that's part of the charm. You don't need a Kindle to enjoy.
Finally, to Mr. Godin: Thanks.
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