“The genius part is getting the lizard brain to shut up long enough…” – Seth Godin
Writing is not that unlike almost any other work. We plan. We design. We create. We work. We produce. And we ship.
Then, the only way we can give ourselves a chance of success and a sense of personal fulfillment, is to start all over again.
The problem is that we so often break the cycle somewhere along the way. We get stuck at some point, so that we never get past planning and designing. Or maybe we start producing before we have planned and designed, so that we don’t have a blueprint for how to finish. Or maybe we produce and produce and produce, but never ship. Or we ship, and then count on our one shipped manuscript–our masterpiece–to carry us through.
The following presentation that Seth Godin gave at a 99% Conference in 2009 might just be what you need to get and to keep the cycle going and, in his analogy, to keep shipping:
Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain:
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/5895898]
Every single time we get close to shipping, every single time the manuscript is ready to send to the publisher, the lizard brain speaks up. The lizard brain, by the way, was in charge of you in high school. The lizard brain says, They’re going to laugh at me. The lizard brain says, I’m going to get in trouble…The lizard brain is
screaming at the top of its lungs. And so, what happens is we don’t do it. We sabotage it. We hold back.
Godin’s message is just what I need this weekend as my lizard brain whispers, “No one will want to read what you are writing.” (Yes, my lizard brain whispers insidiously rather than screams.)
- What is your lizard brain telling you this weekend?
- More important, what is your response?
iPadWriMo Update: Today’s iPad//Blogsy challenge was to embed a Vimeo video. I’m not sure I’ve succeeded. Right now, Blogsy supports YouTube drag and drop, but not Vimeo (at least not as far as I can tell). I am trying the Vimeo embed code that works on WordPress.com, but I’m not sure if it will do the trick here. If not, I’ll use my laptop after the post is published to fix it. In either case, I’ll let you know!
Post-publication note: I did have to fix the video, but I was using the wrong embed code to start with, so I will try again on another day.
Boy, I just love this video clip. Thanks for sharing it here. What is my lizard brain telling me lately? The usual: I don’t measure up. That’s his typical go-to phrase. Tonight, I’m doing my best not to listen, because I have some serious writing to get back to 🙂