What’s the biggest lesson you learned this year?
In my case, moving to Spain taught me the importance of following your own path instead of being or doing what others expect. It’s also taught me to let go of control when it comes to how you live your life. But my biggest lesson can be summed up in this quote from The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (also available on Audible):
One can’t be forever dwelling on what might have been. One should realise one has as good as most, perhaps better, and be grateful.
If you need more guidance, here are some of my favourite Seth Godin quotes from his 2021 blog posts, together with a recommended title from Blinkist.
It’s fair to assert that sometimes, our moods are handed to us. But it’s also clearly true that we can do things to improve our mood. ~ Is mood a gift or a skill?
Learn more: Emotional
We can choose possibility. We can choose connection. We can choose optimism. We can choose justice. We can choose kindness. We can choose resilience. And we can decide to take responsibility. Each leads to more of the same. ~ Each one leads to more
Learn more: Live Life in Crescendo
Connection, possibility and forward motion are tools for resilience and a healthy life. ~ An abundance of caution
Learn more: Living Untethered
The world is real, and opportunities and pain are unfairly and unevenly distributed. At the same time, our narrative and our habits are real as well, and they work to prove themselves right. ~ The things we go back to
Learn more: Simple Habits for Complex Times
Evolving our choices and our tastes is part of being human. Establishing your identity as someone who is not static, open to change and eager for better makes it far easier to engage in a world where some would prefer us to do precisely the opposite. ~ Identity is often used against us
Learn more: Personality Isn’t Permanent
We all like to tell ourselves we’re doing the right thing, but ultimately, all we can do is make choices based on how we see the world. The way we see things drives our choices, and, of course, our choices change the way we see things. ~ Everyone is rational
Learn more: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Consistency is what people pay attention to, and when it’s not there, they make up a story about why. Because they can’t truly know. ~ Self-conception
Learn more: The Great Mental Models
We like to think we make complicated decisions based on rational analysis, but most of the time, we actually make an emotional decision and then invent a rational analysis to justify it. ~ Narrative and feelings
Learn more: Irrationality
Once we realise our own agency, freedom begins to feel like a responsibility. The freedom to make a difference. ~ From/to
Learn more: No Excuses!
Whether or not we commit to movement, the world never stays precisely as it was. Insisting that it does is simply a waste of time and a source of frustration. ~ The two train illusion
Learn more: Flux
The solution to stress isn’t reassurance. It’s accurately understanding the world as it is, and making choices about what we do and how we do it. But far more than that, we relieve stress by making choices about the stories we tell ourselves. ~ Solving for stress
Learn more: The End of Stress
Sometimes the media would like us to believe that we’re all astronomers, simply passive witnesses in a world out of our control. But the world is never out of our influence. ~ We are not astronomers
Learn more: The Everyday Hero Manifesto
It’s possible to be in favour of something without being against something else. ~ Assume that both are true
Learn more: Black-and-White Thinking
Our response to change is often all we have control over. And the way we respond is how we create the next cycle of culture and possibility. ~ Urgent cultural change
Learn more: How Minds Change
The world is changing faster than it ever has before, and we can choose to lead those changes or simply follow them. ~ Leadership is a choice
Learn more: Rule Makers, Rule Breakers
Principles truly matter in the moments when it’s really difficult to stick with them. ~ Predictability
Learn more: Know Thyself
Our best path usually begins by acknowledging that we do, in fact, have a choice. ~ The hedonic buffet
Learn more: The Earned Life
When the cost of topping off your battery is less than the catastrophic risk of running out of juice, it pays to add to your reserves. ~ Fill before empty
Learn more: The Art of Rest
Optimism is a tool that permits us to solve problems more effectively. If used wisely, it brings enthusiasm, inspiration and hope to projects that benefit from them. ~ Optimism is a tool
Learn more: The Optimism Bias
For many people, feeling rich is a choice. If that choice encourages us to be imperious, selfish and a bully, it’s probably best to avoid it. ~ Do you feel rich?
Learn more: Mind Over Money
Without a doubt, there are situations that are unfair, abusive or dangerous. And we should work to fix them or walk away if we possibly can. However, we don’t have to link these external forces to the way we choose to talk to ourselves. We can decide to claim possibility and take action instead. ~ Blaming the weather is a trap
Learn more: Managing Oneself
The future is here. It’s not going away. And a new future is going to be here tomorrow. ~ When the future arrives
Learn more: Future Stories
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