Guy Kawasaki Interviews Seth Godin

Title says it all. Best answer:

Question: What are the five things that enabled you to be successful?

Answer: If we define success as the ability to make a living doing what I do, I’d say the following:

1. No ulterior motive. I rarely do A as a calculated tactic to get B. I do A because I believe in A, or it excites me or it’s the right thing to do. That’s it. No secret agendas.
2. I don’t think my audience owes me anything. It’s always their turn.
3. I’m in a hurry to make mistakes and get feedback and get that next idea out there. I’m not in a hurry, at all, to finish the “bigger” project, to get to the finish line.
4. I do things where I actually think I’m right, as opposed to where I think succeeding will make me successful. When you think you’re right, it’s more fun and your passion shows through.
5. I’ve tried to pare down my day so that the stuff I actually do is pretty well leveraged. That, and I show up. Showing up is underrated.