Dear Seth,
The day has come for us to part ways: As soon as I publish this, I will unsubscribe from your blog.
It has been a great run, and I feel that I’ve benefited the most in this relationship. But unless I break this up, it will all go to waste.
Before I explain why I’m doing this, I must tell you how much I respect you. I’ve read most of your books, and every single post you’ve ever written. I have nothing but admiration for you, and I know that we will meet in person someday (hopefully because you’ll want to meet me as well).
Now, on to the reason behind my decision.
I’m worried about my generation and me. I’m scared that we are turning into the most informed, knowledgeable group of morons in history.
We are given every answer. We consume data instead of poise questions. There’s a lot of passion and is all being put into repetition. Instead of asking and creating, we are paraphrasing and echoing.
We are worshipers. We accept what you and other big names tell us. We are playing by your rules. We’ve allowed your predictions to replace our imaginations.
We think that we are ahead of the game, when we are actually going through just another safe path. Your path.
I’m sure there are exceptions. And I want to be one of them.
Here’s the thing: the only goal worth so much trouble, is a breakthrough. And I don’t think I’ll create breakthroughs by following anyone in such religious ways. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I should question you more, but I find it hard to do when the admiration starts early, and I don’t think I’m alone in this.
It’s not that we shouldn’t listen and learn from other people (your void will be filled with new material). But the moment the worshiping begins and our own ideas get left behind, we should cut ties.
To quote Alex J. Mann, “I question the edge a tool can provide once it’s become a standard.”
To be ahead of you, I need to leave you.
Thank you for all that you’ve done for me and many others (more than you can imagine).
Wish us luck.
Best,
Carlos Miceli
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I have been too paralyzed to write lately. My mind is trapped, I don’t feel like I’m coming up with anything original or interesting. I’ve been loosing confidence in opinions and observations. It’s because I’ve been reading too much – my ideas have been left behind. Your post resonated with me, my frustrations put into words (and action). I appreciate/admire your announcement of unsubscribe. I’m inspired to let myself think freely and share. Gracias.
Bethany, thank you for sharing that with us, I’m glad this post can spark a little “freedom” on our minds. Imagine away.
Bethany..share your thoughts completely. Too much info to consume and it doesn’t give yourself time to break out some of your own thoughts.
Carlos, great post!
I agree with this and wrote a similar post earlier this year. I subscribe to more than 300 blogs (in part, because of my job), but very few land in the “best” folder and stay there. The marketing people are the easiest to skip with little original content.
Just read your post, great stuff Rebecca. I agree with your opinion on marketing blogs (though I never really considered Seth’s blog as just marketing). We should all embrace a reader evolution, almost no blogs should stay there forever.
Carlos:
I read the first line of this post and knew I wanted to comment and tell you this before I even finished reading: My respect for you has just grown ten-fold. To take your own path, to see yourself not following the masses but, instead, establishing yourself as an individual capable of their own thoughts, feelings, opinions, and ideas is something admirable.
I don’t want to comment on the post itself, but something I’ve observed:
It’s funny how we as “fans” of individuals build them up in such a way so that every sentence written and word spoken is immediately heralded and gushed upon as the right way, as the only way when, really, we *should* be questioning, forming our own opinions, having our own voice.
I love the fact that you and I disagree in our perspectives. As an optimist and admittedly a dreamer, your realism provides another side that I can consider and aprpeciate and apply or disregard based on my own values — values that are personal to each individual. That’s what I tend to love about this community, the blogs — it offers additional insights and varying opinions so that we can learn, so that we can grow, so that we can take those insights and either cement the opinion we had before or change it up based on new experience or information.
You’ve just had a hand in reaffirming my belief in this community. Thanks for that, Carlos.
Susan, first of all, thank you, I’m honored by your words. Everytime you comment here you leave me speechless.
You make great points, no disagreement there my friend, I’m just glad that this made you believe in the community again.
Everyone is capable of doing this. It’s our decision.
Carlos, you’ve said very simply (and beautifully) what our deepest feelings are moving us toward. Now if we can each break out of our well-informed shells and embark on the far extents of our imaginations…there our true journey begins.
Thanks for using your voice.
:c::
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Chelsie, our journey is awaiting us.
Carlos, you rock bro.
I need to do the same thing. I thought I was carving my own path by following what Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Leo have done.
But I need to find my own path.
Big things are to come bro
You may not realize it, but you’re already doing it. It’s just a matter of technichalities.
Big things are on our way indeed, brother. It’ll be a fun ride.
Really honest and upfront post, Carlos. I couldn’t ask more from a blogger, author, purveyor of thoughts, etc. You are all of those things and that’s why your blog remains at the top of my RSS feed subscriptions and like Rebecca said, I subscribe to very few of those ‘big name’ ‘guru’s’ because the real honesty and raw thoughts come from the underdog, who is slowly but surely blowing people away. AKA. You. No need to worry about our generation.
Grace, wow, I’m so flattered, especially coming from you. Like I told Jun above, it’ll be a fun ride, and I know that we’ll do it together. Thank you for being awesome and doing awesome things yourself.
Great insights, Carlos.
As an author, speaker, columnist, and trainer, I found I had to ignore much of what the guru’s say in order to stay fresh. I haven’t gone so far as to unsubscribe from RSS feeds, but instead I choose to simply ignore my reader most of the time.
My best insights come from talking with clients and friends, finding out what’s troubling them, and then brainstorming solutions with them and other colleagues. I read other people’s stuff only once in a while — mainly to keep an overview of trends and consider topics that might be popping up on the radar.
We may not be on the exact same page as far as unsubscribing, but we’re certainly in the same chapter about the need to keep our own thinking processes active and engaged.
Dan Bobinski
http://www.workplace-excellence.com
PS. Ironically, it’s Seth Godin’s book “The Dip” that reinforced my need to say “no” to things that won’t lead me to being the best in the world at what I do.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts Dan, appreciate it. I think we agree mostly on the reason behind this decision. I unsubscribe because I want to make it definitive. After so long, I want to not have my daily dose of Seth.
And yes, being the best is the only goal that matters. If you dont’w ant to get there, stop worrying, the middle is easy.
A mentor once told me to question “anything I automatically inherently agree with,” and I think it’s easy to fall into that pattern with Godin. He’s spot on sometimes–and other times he’s not.
I get what you’re saying.
Great mentor, great advice.
This goes beyond “right or wrong”, it’s about cutting ties. I think that every blogger out there is right sometimes and others, not so much.
Just read your post for the first time. In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of you. But I think you are right on. At 33, I often challenge the bright 20-somethings I come into contact with who are quick to quote urbanists like Richard Florida, Thomas Landry, etc and name them as “geniuses.” Smart though those writers and these 20-somethings may be, they are still all stumped by the question, “What city did they fix?” I think your post resonates with me because it highlights the question I’ve been asking in my industry for three years now: “Who is actually DOING something instead of writing about it?” I’ve come to use a phrase, “There are people who read and people who do. I want to be a doer.”
Good luck on your journey. No one ever blazed a trail where there was already pavement.
-Joe Borgstrom
Hi Joe, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. While I agree mostly, I think that for some people, writing and talking really means doing. I plan on doing many things in the future, I’m 22, just starting my journey, but I really believe that Seth has done a lot for example. The thing is, to convey with your point, that for every speaker and writer that truly does something outstanding with their skills, there’s ten more nobodies that try to find easy success and impress people.
I do consumer research and publish market research studies. I produce information and data for smart innovative people like you Carlos to study, ponder and use to develop new strategies, new tactics, new ideas. What I provide is very valuable — at least I believe so or I wouldn’t bother doing it — but I am getting more and more frustrated by the fact that people want me not just to deliver research-based findings grounded in facts but to do all the thinking for them….to be the one to tell them not just what is going on in the mind of the consumer, but also what they should do about it.
Following Seth, or following Pam or whomever the designated expert is, is so much easier than doing the heaving lifting, intense thinking, the real work. In his way, Seth is simply responding to the demands of the marketplace. People more and more want to be the followers. Bravo for you in getting off the gravy train and do it for yourself..
Pam, nice of you to stop by and add your thoughts on this, it’s always nice to meet a new reader.
“Smart and innovative”, why thank you.
I agree with you Pam, Seth filled the space that the world was demanding, I have nothing against him obviously. He’s one heck of a leader.
I think it’s ok for all of us to be followers at anything, except at thinking. We should all lead there.
Carlos: I just subscribed to your blog after reading your post. Nice work here. I am a true fan of Seth’s as well. No doubt his recent Brands in Public launch and resulting backlash (especially in a much read /commented on post by @lisabarone) spurred this one.
I agree with you on the premise of what you have written. “Exceptions and Breakthroughs” are admirable goals and leaving the nest at some point is a necessary good. Best of luck to you, mate. It’s good to go out and hoe your own row, but you don’t have to put your heroes out to pasture all together. Case in point…
Just a few weeks ago I too wrote a post about this…but from a different angle. I wrote, “The Not so Fine LIne between Influence and Imitation” http://bit.ly/wXS3N, using a personal experience of how I use the subtleties of in influence to make my own way…without imitating. Have a read. You are not alone in your thinking.
Let us know ho you go along the way. Cheers, Judd
Hello Judd, glad to have you here. I want to clarify (since you are not the first to tell this to me) that this had nothing to do with his “Brands In Public” controversy. I’ve been writing this post for a couple of weeks now, and been thinking about it for even longer. Just bad timing of my part, I guess
Agreed. Like I said, I won’t stop reading, Seth’s room will be occupied by someone else, I need my reading. This has more to do with my relationship with him and his stuff than with my attitude towards learning.
Thank you man for stopping here and taking some time to give your thoughts, much appreciated.
“To be ahead of you, I need to leave you.”
That line says it all Carlos. Congrats on taking the lead, your lead.
Cheers,
Dayne
Thank you Dayne, I’ll do my best.
That was pure and honest. I totally understand your standpoint and what direction you’re going. If you feel that you got all you can from the man, make the move. You’re definitely going places Carlos.
Great point Tony, I think that sometimes we just have to realize that we’ve gotten all we can. Thank you for the encouragement man.
I love it! Really great angle for a post, and as a fellow fan of Seth Godin’s work, I can understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. Being handed everything probably isn’t going to build a new, stronger generation of marketers.
Your comment was greatly appreciated! I concur! The gurus feed us as we open wide our mouths, right? Which is cool to a point, but eventually, if we are to be contributors as the gurus, we must learn how to feed our bodies with foods of our own choice. It’s those missing nutrients that the gurus sometimes omit because they assume we already have it that can make us better individuals, better contributors to society, rather than just information consumers, we can be also producers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m interested in reading more of your thoughts!
Wow, this was actually an intelligently asserted manifesto that stimulated many positive thoughts as I read. And by the way, I noticed the link to this manifesto via a tweet via Twitter. Anyway…
I must say, your right about following others thoughts, information, or knowledge taught; it is important to be careful not to follow too closely another person. Everything they say is not always the only way to seeing things nor the best thoughts or answers available on a subject or problem.
Be that as it may, we can however sift through others materials, true. We must be “thinkers” along the way;allowing our own thoughts regarding the subject to be included and questions to be highlighted causing us to think deeper allowing our creative juices to fill the cup of wisdom.
Seth’s ways of seeing thing may be certainly great, but are they the only ways or the best answers or the best paths to travel? Many of us have answers already sitting in our treasured minds. We simply can use the thoughts expressed by guru’s like Seth as a starting point to unleash those new or creative ways, you think?
I will never stop listening to others thoughts, of course, but I’m learning to be a better thinker and more creative in finding better ways of doing things, not because I don’t appreciate those before me, but that’s exactly what the people before me, the people before the guru’s of today did. You think?
My thoughts, my name is Paul Carter Jr. Follow my updates via http://twitter.com/paulcarterjr
Hey Paul, thanks for your time, for stopping by and sharing your thoughts here. Great thoughts by the way.
Absolutely agree with all of what you say here. The key is to understand that we never must stop learning, but that we never should worship either. I think that that balance is what’s hard to find for many people probably…
Go ‘head with ya bad self, Carlos – this is what I’m talkin about. I really liked the phrase “well informed morons”. For those who live in the social media world, I think the bubble is becoming more and more polluted with echoes.
Tell me about it Andre… The only way to stop echoing is to think by ourselves. Information does not make you smarter, thinking does. Thanks for stopping by man.
Another brilliant post Carlos.
I have been cleaning out my subscriptions recently as well. There is so much regurgitation and so little original thought. If people are going to rehash the same idea over and over, they can at least try to personalize it with their own experiences.
Blindly following the messages of popular figures creates a world of sheep. Everywhere I look online it is Baa, Baa, Baa.
Stop buying tattoos, moleskins and iPhones. Think! Be original and Be Authentic.
Thanks John.
Here’s my thought: either personalize it with your own experiences, or at least come up with them on your own. That’s the key to authenticity.
You make a good point about asking questions. A great way to convert information into your own original ideas and to use your imagination, is with smart questions. Questions are also a great way to avoid getting into guru-worshipping as well!
Cath
Thanks Cath, I’m glad we agree on this.
Great job – I’ve been wishing and waiting to hear someone finally say something like this. Godin has had some great insights, but I’ve always been confused at the degree of Godin-worship I feel I’ve seen everywhere. No offense to him personally, of course – and it could just be my own bias – but more people need to stop blindly worshipping others and be their own geniuses.
“Information does not make you smarter, thinking does.” Thanks for your authentic words, Carlos!
I’m sure you and me aren’t the only ones feeling this way, Clare (and the popularity of this post proves it). I’m glad people are finding it helpful to make their own leaps.
Thanks Clare.
Huh? Why the break up?
Always quality, Carlos. On a similar note, I’m subscribed to probably about 30-40 sites on Reader, but I rarely read any of them – I’m too busy doing my own thing. Not to say that you can’t learn from them, but you’re right – sometimes you just gotta go your own way.
Thanks for being brave enough to throw it out there like this.
I’d rather fail on my own way, than stay still on someone else’s.
You know, I feel like I SHOULD be getting sick of saying how amazing you are every time I read a new post of yours or “converse” on Twitter. But I don’t get sick of it because you haven’t stopped being amazing. I promise, I’ll let you know if I feel like it though.
I’ve got to admit, I’ve subscribed to very few of the online experts and gurus (I’ll further admit my ignorance…I know something big has to have happened with Seth Godin in the past two weeks but I have no idea what it is!) Truthfully, I put very little value into what many experts and gurus have to tell me. I enjoy getting their opinions, but once the opinion is either not founded in any sort of fact or reality and they act like pretentious twits I’m pretty much done. I crave the abstract and beautiful thoughts of the philosophers and writers of days past (stick me in a cabin with Thoreau’s essays and I will live a happy life) and I find very few people writing that lately.
Values and priorities and lifestyles have changed and while the business/marketing/strategy blogs have their purpose and meaning their ideas seem to recycle and stagnate far faster than anything Plato ever put out.
I agree so much with all this, that the only I’m going to say is this: best comment ever.
Stick me with Schopenhauer’s and I’m set
Excellent post Carlos!You put into words what I’ve been thinking and feeling for a long time.
I actually never heard of Seth Godin, wasn’t familiar with the whole social media, marketing world, or any of that until I happened to stumble upon your blog and a few others. Still, to this day, I never understood why these topics were and still are so popular, I felt that maybe I wasn’t “in” on something really important.
In contrast, I was really into Steve Pavlina. I read his book and I read his blog almost religiously, until one day I felt like I was no longer thinking for myself and solving my own problems. When I would list my values and purpose, they were sounding a whole lot like Steve’s. So I asked myself, “what if he died? What if I didn’t have him to solve my problems?” I then joined the forums to ask a couple questions and I noticed there were probably thousands of members who had posted anywhere from 100’s to 1,000s of post. I didn’t want to become that type of person. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I felt like it was a community of Steve Pavlina “worshippers” who would “congregate” on his website either for the sake of community or for substituting individual thought for the collective thinking of others. I feel that it’s a great personal development website with very insightful articles and supportive forums but, but my question was “how long do you go to others for guidance?How long do you allow others to do most of the thinking for you?Some succumb to what he called “forum addiction.”
I think Napoleon Hill summed it better than I can in Think and Grow Rich:
“…It is no disgrace to be a follower. On the other hand, it is no credit to remain a follower. Most great leaders began in the capacity of followers. They became great leaders because they were INTELLIGENT FOLLOWERS. With few exceptions, the man who cannot follow a leader intelligently, cannot become an efficient leader. The man who can follow a leader most efficiently, is usually the man who develops into leadership most rapidly. An intelligent follower has many advantages, among them the OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE FROM HIS LEADER…”
Thank you for your comments Robert, all of them.
You’re never late to catch up with the wave, and regarding your “worshiping” with Pavlina (another smart guy), I think you understood my point exactly and did it for yourself too.
Thank you for that Napoleon hill quote, fantastic.
Glad to have you as a reader Robert, honestly.
Good for you.
I’ll miss you.
And to everyone who is left, I’ll keep trying to ask hard questions.
Thank you Seth, I owe a lot to you, thank you.
Props to Seth for listening to “the conversation” so well and responding! And Carlos, dude, congrats on having such a great concept and attracting such great attention! I’m enjoying your posts more and more lately my friend. Keep it up.
Thank you Cody! It is admirable how much he listens. I know now that following him all this time was the right thing to do.
Carlos,
At first glance, I was in total agreement with what you posted, and very impressed by the lyricism. But being beautiful doesn’t make it best. We haven’t developed our ideas over the last two centuries by ignoring the prior thoughts of the Seth Godin’s! We have built on them. Creativity and progress can be made in a vacuum – but I find it more beneficial to start on the shoulders of the greats.
You do have to be willing to think critically – but we are talking the difference between learning at school and doing original research, doing a PhD.
Where do I want to go? Does this idea help me on the way? Can I consider it with a different value system to gain a greater insight? Does the opposite of this idea have merit? What would it take for this idea to have holes? How will this idea affect others? Can I combine it with other ideas in new, interesting and informative ways?
Think about your posting combined with creativity science, as expressed by Edward de Bono, or Tony Buzan, or more recently Dr YKK. Take it as a challenge.
And on a lighter related note…think of historians, destined to repeat to others what has already happened. Remarkable similarility to your posted profile. Then realise that such students appear to have the most active sex lives of the students in Oxford University! Not that I am suggesting that unsubscribing from Seth’s blog will negatively impact on your sex life….no, not at all!
http://hnn.us/roundup/archives/14/2009/5/#88696
Sais, first of all, thank you for taking time to leave such a detailed comment. Glad to have you here.
I did start on the shoulders of Seth Godin. Like I said in the post, I read pretty much everything he has ever written. That’s why I’m cutting ties, because I already assimilated his message, I get what he’s all about, and I’m thankful to him for all that he has taught me and others.
Also, the kind of relationship thatI had with Seth’s content, is unique. I don’t “worship” anyone else, and probably never will again. The rarity of this decision is what makes it posting worthy.
Finally, not reading JUST Seth Godin, does not mean that I won’t read other stuff. I’m not arrogant, I want to learn and am aware of how little I know. I just think that I’ll learn more from others than from Seth at this point.
I’m reminded of what my favorite karate sensei always tells me. No matter WHO is explaining something…if you disagree, you owe it to yourself to engage and find out what really works for YOU.
It was true then…and it’s true today. Great post!
Thank you Barbara, sounds like you had a great sensei.
Carlos – I wrote something similar about Seth three years ago: http://tinyurl.com/yjhowvc
Ironically, Seth says this about books: “I try to find things with lousy covers and go out of my way to check them out. If the herd is drawn to the obvious, flashy cover, then I’m not going to find insightful, rare information where everyone else is. The unique stuff is hiding.” One could obviously substitute sites like Seth’s for books.
Robert and Sais make excellent points above. Maybe reconsider cutting Seth out entirely and learn / use from him what you can. This is the point that I needed to get to. At first I let my ego get in the way. I said to myself, “I cannot follow Seth because everyone is following him. I am not a sheep”. Once I clarified in my mind why I follow Seth, to learn stuff that will help me, I was more at peace.
That said, I really commend you for your line of thinking. You ARE an exception Carlos…keep moving in this direction brother.
Yes Dave, you make a good point, maybe my line of thinking isn’t right for everyone. But I just knew in my heart that it was what I needed to do this time. Like I’ve told others, this will probably be a once in a lifetime thing.