“The thing I’m most proud of about “my career” is I have failed more than anyone I have ever met” Seth Godin says your path doesn’t need a destination

The Path is our video series where I chat with some of the most influential leaders in the world exploring the successes, missteps, and key pivotal moments that shaped their professional paths. It’s through these authentic stories that we can learn how to navigate our own career journeys.

My next guest is blogger, entrepreneur, author, and marketing guru, Seth Godin.  

A path, by definition, implies that there’s a route from one point to another. For Seth, the journey has never been about a single destination or a predetermined route. He chooses experiences and learning over success, passion over money and revels in the detours. He’s an independent thinker who isn’t content with the status quo. 

His professional journey is one of the best examples of how you can have a fulfilling career without mapping it out. 

Learn by doing

Even as a kid, Seth knew he wanted to do things his own way. At 13, he started honing his business acumen as an entrepreneur. He’s consistently created new opportunities for himself ever since. 

In college, he crammed extra classes into his schedule but he wasn’t interested in stellar grades. He was there to learn. He said, “I had one notebook for four years, but I learned more than most people because I wasn't trying to do well on the test. I was trying to learn things and the way you learn things is by doing them.” At the time, “doing things” meant earning a bachelor’s degree and MBA all while running multiple businesses and co-founding the largest student run business in the country. But these accomplishments were just a sampling of what was to come.

Find the right magnetic north

As an entrepreneur, Seth created and sold several successful companies. But he would be the first to tell you that he didn’t always get it right. In fact, he said it’s what he’s most proud of. “I have failed more than anyone I've ever met.” he told me. “And if you can fail and keep playing, it's more fun and you learn more.” 

His willingness to fail is a key element in Seth’s formula for finding the opportunities that suit him. Looking back, he sees a series of trials and errors on his quest to learn and choose experiences he wanted to pursue. From product manager to running a book packaging business to being a best-selling author, he explored the possibilities he was drawn to to find the right “magnetic north.” 

Seth said, “If you are surrounded by people who are using the wrong true north, it's quite likely you're gonna be confused.” Instead, he looked for the reward of life satisfaction and a chance to choose what to be good at. 

Enjoy the ride

When Seth was 16, it took quitting for him to discover the joy in choosing what he wanted to do. He told me a story about giving up playing hockey. He hated sports, and as he tells the story, he wasn’t very good. But he tried to excel. It took a couple of broken bones until he finally decided to quit and became a coach instead, something he enjoyed. That was when his whole life changed.

According to Seth, when you’re not attached to a specific outcome, a whole world opens up. Now he blogs everyday. He doesn’t promote it or keep track of the metrics. He said he would keep blogging even if no one read it. “I am noticing the world,” he told me. “I am thinking, ‘What would I say to a respected friend?’ Because tomorrow I'm gonna have to say something to a respected friend who's reading my blog. That makes me better. It makes me happier,” For Seth, the focus is not on a destination, what’s important is the enjoyment and impact you make along the way.

Seth has a truly unique approach to his life and career. For him, they’re essentially one and the same. His bold view and zest for learning is inspiring. Here are the top takeaways from our conversation: 

• Have a compass, not a map. Seth looks at his career as a sequence of things he’s done without a predetermined path. He told me, “The goal is, did you enjoy getting from here to wherever dead is? And you do that by having a compass, not a map.”
• Pave your own path. No one can make your career choices for you. Seth said that when you start to make choices based on the possibility in front of you, “it becomes thrilling because this means it’s something you get to do, not something you have to do.”
• Be willing to fail in order to learn. You learn by doing and that means not always getting it right. Seth shared this insight: “I have failed more than anyone I've ever met. And if you can fail and keep playing, it's more fun and you learn more. Because if you need to succeed, you're not gonna try all the things that involve learning.”

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