ARTICLE

Understand the Fear of Failure To Overcome Yours

Friday, January 29, 2010

Interview with Seth Godin about his new book, called Linchpin

Productivity guru Merlin Mann interviews best-selling business author Seth Godin about his new book, called Linchpin, discussing lizard and puppy brains, Bob Dylan, and why the cost of failure is so low that you should ignore your brain's instincts.

The entire interview is available below, and it's chock full of interesting conversation about productivity and work (Godin even professes an affinity for Lifehacker), but our favorite discussion focuses on what Mann sums up as "beating back the fear and resistance that drive mediocrity." After focusing on the driving factors that cause us to avoid taking risks (our brains evolved to see failure as a life-or-death concern, which is clearly no longer the case for most "risks"), Godin ends with this nugget:

The cost of failure is not that a saber-toothed tiger eats you... the cost of failure is nothing. The worst thing that will happen is that you will fail and no one will notice

The upshot: Rather than avoiding risks for fear of failure, go for it. Your brain can try telling you that you're risking your life; you're not.

Listen to the entire interview with "Linchpin" Author, Seth Godin.

And be sure to watch the "Lizard Brain" Video too.