Seth Godin's advice on finding your north star

Today’s idea is from a podcast interview Seth Godin did with David Perell. It’s an unusual take on finding your north star that can apply to individual star finding as well as team strategy. The crux: just pick.

David: So then what would you recommend to young people who are struggling to find that mission and to find that North Star?

Seth: I am your guest here today and I don’t want to rain on your parade but I don’t think each of us has a North Star. I think that you can pick anything you want and make it your North Star. I was really close to becoming a movie producer, I was really close to producing broadway plays, I was really close to running a summer camp which I did for one summer, and any of those things could’ve become my North Star. I wasn’t born to do this. No one was.

So I think that if you are dissatisfied with your momentum and if you are seeking that thing, you don’t need more time, you just need to decide. You just need to pick a thing. Pick a thing. And do it. And get through and dip. And once you get through the dip and change you can change but don’t change when you are in the dip change after that. Figure out something that is worth the next few years of your life and do it, and if you can’t figure out anything that is worth it, do it anyway because it is better than sitting around whining.

From a podcast interview, found via How It Actually Works

It’s so easy to get caught up in what could be. To talk endlessly about possibilities. And to worry that if a decision is made, it’s final. I’ve found over and over again that decisions are not final. Our own complacency is the only thing that would make that true.

You can start to take steps and adjust in the future. The biggest risk isn’t in choosing the wrong thing—the biggest risk is endlessly debating and never taking initial action.

In today’s world more than ever, you can change. Embrace failure, start doing the work, and adjust as needed.

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This week’s question: What North Star are you debating right now that you could pick and start headed toward?