People Like Us Do Stuff Like This

Just a week ago, we were total strangers.  Today, we share a common bond, a tribe of leaders supporting and pushing each other, all because of a simple challenge, and saying yes.

Background Story

Few authors resonate with me as much as Seth Godin.  He implores you to become a linchpin, also known as someone who is indispensable.  As noted on Amazon, these people figure out what to do when there’s no rule book.  They delight and challenge their customers and peers.  They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.  He has a daily blog with over 1 million subscribers.

In his most recent book, Seth talks about overcoming your fears and learning to ship on a consistent basis.  In a chat room accompanying the audio Q&A session for the book (password: MyTurn),  the moderator, Winnie Kao (Godin’s Special Projects Lead) gave us a brief insight on what it’s like to work for Seth.  He told her that ‘every day you don’t put up a blog post, you’ve failed.’  It’s all about delivering content, not waiting until it’s absolutely perfect, not acquiescing to the voice in your head saying it’s not good enough, and getting into the habit of shipping.

The Challenge

One day, Winnie stopped shipping.  A couple of weeks later, in her quest to get unstuck and back on track, she initiated and lead a relatively simple challenge.  Write a blog post daily for 7 days.  The twist?  Asking the Godin tribe to join her.  As it turns out, many people are in the same situation as Winnie.

The Tribe Comes Together

Based off the Q&A session, I had already started blogging daily for 2 weeks before the challenge began.  This was an opportunity to not only ship daily but meet like-minded people.  As Godin observes, “People Like Us Do Stuff Like This.”  Like many great ideas in hindsight, I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it earlier.

Regardless, I knew immediately I had to get involved.  Not just participate, but lead.  After all, isn’t that the point?  To stop waiting for someone else to do it.

I reached out to Winnie and asked if I could assist or help in any way.  The idea made so much sense and would be a great way to help many people learn to ship daily.  As it turns out, I wasn’t alone.  Andy, Joyce, Denys, Steve, and Fraser had similar ideas.

Together, we bonded over the project and found we had a lot in common.  We chatted daily while moderating and approving posts.  Reading and promoting posts on Twitter.  Providing encouragement and technical assistance.  Building a community, a tribe.  It’s been a fun and incredible ride.  As of mid-day Sunday (day 7), we have over 4 thousand posts!  Come check out our work here!

While every project has a beginning, middle, and end, I wanted to ensure we could sustain our momentum past this challenge.  After some collaboration, Andy took the lead and created a facebook group where we could continue the conversation.  Come join us even if you didn’t do the challenge!  I have no doubt our connection will continue to strengthen.  There has already been offers amongst members to provide assistance on side projects and make introductions to their own networks.

This challenge has inspired hundreds of people to create new habits.  Brought like-minded people together.  And finally, showed that it is possible to get past your internal fears and ship consistently, even if it’s not perfect.  People like us do stuff like this.