Brainwashed

Brainwashed

Seth Godin wrote this article with the intent to speak to creative minds and get across one point. We need to reinvent ourselves. He does so by explaining that there are even layers to reinvention. There are two in particular that spoke out to me. The first layer being “Acknowledging the lizard” and the second being “Ship”.

Acknowledging the lizard refers to the part in our brain that allows us to either take a risk, or not take a risk. It’s the part that has the fear of failing or being laughed at. The resistance against risk taking puts a damper on our work. If we are scared that someone may laugh at our work, our potential is cut. Seth Godin says that we need to learn how to ignore the resistance and carry out those risks that we would have otherwise been to afraid to take. We must acknowledge the lizard, so that we may ignore it.

The ability to “ship” is a very important quality to have. Someone who ships is someone who can make things happen. It’s someone who is the leader of the group and takes those risks. The risk is the act of shipping, ignoring the lizard and actually taking the risk of shipping. The lizard doesn’t want us to ship because of the possibility of failure. The goal is to have the rare skill of actually getting things done, making them happen and creating outcomes that people seek out.

These two layers directly relate to me creating this blog. I’ve never blogged before in my whole life and frankly I was skeptical. Honestly, if it weren’t for a grade I would have never started. Now that I’ve started I would say that it’s a very important skill to have. I ignored the lizard and branched out and tried something new. People may laugh at this blog but I took a step of reinvention. I also feel like I have the ability to ship. I try my best to make things happen and to be that leader. I am always looking for ways to get things done.

The article Brainwashed can be found here!