The Quitting Expert: Quit NOW Before AI Makes The Choice For You, This Is a Superpower! | Seth Godin

**Steven Bartlett** (0:00)
How do I know when to quit something?

**Seth Godin** (0:01)
It's okay. You can quit things.

**Steven Bartlett** (0:04)
Hang on a minute. When I went to the gym this morning, there was a Michael Jordan quote.

**Seth Godin** (0:08)
If you quit once, it becomes a habit. Never quit. He's wrong. And it's very clear that he's wrong. And I've failed more times than most people have listened to this. And the simple secret for the power of quitting is the dip. And the dip describes something in the world that no one talks about. And so one of the things I try to do is help people understand it, because my whole career is about how can I help people do better, find why they're stuck, realize what's holding them back, go solve the problem, because problems are opportunity. And I believe all problems can be solved. But what we're wrestling now with is people are afraid, people are lonely, people are disconnected. They're victims of all sorts of media and commercial systems. And we've been indoctrinated to not notice it.

**Steven Bartlett** (0:47)
So I really want to just focus in on people who feel stuck right now.

**Seth Godin** (0:51)
So there's this philosophy, which is the key to figuring out our stuckness. The donkey is trapped halfway between the water and the carrot. The donkey is thirsty and hungry, but he's unwilling to move away from either of the things he wants. So he starves to death and he dies of thirst. And all of us do this and we do it with one simple word, but I want to run the marathon, but I don't want to get tired. I want to have a job that fulfills me, but I also like this car and this house. And so I can give you tools that can help you overcome resistance. And also I can give you the mechanics to become the person your future self thanks you for.

**Steven Bartlett** (1:25)
And then the skill of overcoming shame or embarrassment might be one of the most important skills in the modern world today. How do I get better at dealing with that?

**Seth Godin** (1:31)
So let me try to make it really simple.

**Steven Bartlett** (1:33)
The floor is yours.

**Seth Godin** (1:34)
So...

**Steven Bartlett** (1:36)
Guys, I've got a favor to ask before this episode begins. The algorithm, if you follow a show, will deliver you the best episodes from that show very prominently in your feed. So when we have our best episodes on this show, the most shared episodes, the most rated episodes, I would love you to know. And the simple way for you to know that is to hit that follow button. But also, it's the simple, easy, free thing that you can do to help us make the show better. And I would be hugely grateful if you could take a minute on the app you're listening to this on right now and hit that follow button. Thank you so, so, so much.
Seth Godin, for my audience who have just clicked on this conversation, my question to you is by the time this conversation is done, what do you hope that they're going to come away with? What questions in their life are they going to have answers to?

**Seth Godin** (2:25)
Some of your best guests are world experts and they show up and they say, I did the research, I did the math, do this because I told you to. And I've never done that. I show up and I try to paint a picture for people of what the words mean and what the systems are like, and then encourage you to do things because you told you to.
And so what I think we're wrestling now with is people are afraid, people are lonely, people are disconnected, they're victims of all sorts of media and commercial systems, and we've been indoctrinated to not notice it. And there are problems all around us, and if we can solve problems, we can make things better. So what I want to help people do is find the words to talk about their problem, realize what's holding them back, go solve the problem. Because when we solve problems, we make things better for ourselves and for other people. So problems aren't something to be avoided. Problems are our opportunity. And I believe all problems can be solved.
Some things aren't problems. They're situations and you have to live with them. But if it's a problem, it means there's a solution. And I would like to help people find the vision and the words to see where they're stuck, why they're stuck, and whether it's a problem or a situation. If it's a problem and someone's going to benefit from you solving it, I hope I can give you the mechanics, the tools, the vocabulary to go move forward toward better.