Seth Godin
Person
Seth Godin is a bestselling author, blogger, and entrepreneur. He is widely recognized for his insights on marketing, leadership, and overcoming creative challenges like writer's block.
Works by Seth Godin
What Seth Godin has said on podcasts
45 statements
The Michael Jordan “never quit” maxim is wrong.
“He's wrong, and it's very clear that he's wrong.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 0:11
A problem, unlike a situation, implies that a solution exists.
“If it's a problem, it means there's a solution.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 3:28
Understanding admissions incentives makes college applications easier to navigate.
“Once you see that all the drama and entanglement of applying for college moves to the side, you say, what's in it for the admissions officer”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 4:42
Marketing is serving the right audience through a truthful, useful story.
“I've defined marketing as telling a true story to the right people in a way that helps them get where they want”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 10:51
- on Private chauffeur work versus ride-sharing platformsPositiveAug 10, 2026· The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Serving regular private-chauffeur customers is better than relying solely on Uber-like platforms.
“that path is a better use of his tomorrow than simply being ground out by some social media company or ride sharing service.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 12:14
People remain stuck when they cannot identify the forces constraining them.
“we are stuck because we can't see what's holding us there”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 14:02
Chasing social-media popularity can undermine honesty, authenticity, and consistency.
“I want to be popular on social media and that means I can't be honest and authentic and consistent because I gotta keep chasing X, Y or Z.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 18:14
A parent of three young children cannot realistically start an OpenAI-scale competitor.
“He cannot start an OpenAI competitor. It is off the table. That is impossible.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 19:38
Resistance is any feeling that prevents generous, creative work.
“resistance is any feeling we have that keeps us from doing generous, generative, creative work of any kind.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 22:17
Resistance cannot be permanently eliminated.
“You can't make resistance go away, ever.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 23:19
Naming resistance helps people understand why they feel stuck and move forward.
“Name the baggage. Drop the baggage. Do it once you can name the baggage, you can say, this is why I am feeling stuck.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 24:16
Writing anonymously for 100 consecutive days can reduce fear of public failure.
“Do it for 100 days in a row.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 28:18
Shame affects people only when they accept it from others.
“shame is this interesting emotion because we must receive it. It's sent to us all the time, but you have to receive it for it to work.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 31:48
Shake Shack changed fries to gain status with New York cultural critics.
“And they switched to fresh cut French fries because they wanted the status that came from New York cultural critics saying, these are guys that are authentic.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 35:25
Amazon has recently lost focus on serving its customers.
“In the last two years, Amazon has lost their way about who they're serving.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 37:54
Amazon’s advertising business earns billions while worsening its search experience.
“Amazon made billions and billions of dollars last year selling ads that make Amazon search worse.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 37:59
Sunk costs can prevent people from changing direction.
“Sunk costs keep us trapped.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 46:32
Past parking payments should not determine whether someone takes a better free space.
“obviously you take the free space because the money you paid is already gone.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 48:21
A relationship should end when recommitment will not pay off for the people involved.
“based on who we are now, do we want to recommit to this? Will it pay off in the future. And if the answer is no, it will not pay off in the future. You've already answered the question.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 49:23
People pursuing fame through shortcuts are probably delusional.
“You probably are delusional.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 57:15
Customer traction is the strongest indicator of startup success.
“customer traction is the single best indicator of whether a startup is going to succeed more than any other metric.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:01:27
Launching something new requires creating tension for potential participants.
“The only way to launch something new is to create tension.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:02:38
Developing a practice reduces attachment to uncontrollable outcomes.
“If we can develop a practice, we're no longer attached to the outcome because the outcome's out of our control.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:05:56
- on The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)NeutralAug 10, 2026· The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
The dip is the difficult phase between beginning an activity and becoming competent.
“The dip is the hard part in between starting and getting good at it.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:08:56
Continuing to smoke cannot overcome emphysema.
“On the other hand, no one that I know of has ever smoked their way through emphysema.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:10:33
Michael Jordan’s universal “never quit” advice is incorrect.
“But he's wrong. And it's very clear that he's wrong.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:13:11
An abusive boss is unlikely to stop being abusive.
“That's not the same as working for an abusive boss, because your boss is never going to stop being abusive.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:15:23
Leaving an unfulfilling job may require accepting substantially lower income and lifestyle costs.
“The alternative is move to a two bedroom flat, eat rice and beans, take a deep breath, reset all these things, and now you can get a different job that's going to pay you half as much”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:18:18
Successful people tend to love the work they have chosen.
“The people who are the most successful love what they do.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:24:28
Purpose is chosen rather than something people are born possessing.
“It's the day you decide why. Because this isn't something you're born with. This is something you choose.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:26:51
Perfectionism is avoidance, not a pursuit of quality.
“Perfectionism is a trap every time. Perfectionism has nothing to do with quality.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:28:56
Artificial intelligence is transforming society faster than electricity did.
“This is like that, but much, much faster.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:36:03
AI can perform most fully specifiable jobs faster and cheaper than humans.
“There are very few jobs where if I can write down what you do all day, I can't find an AI to do it faster and cheaper than you.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:37:29
Human-to-human connection creates economic value.
“when we figure out how to connect human to human, we create value.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:38:58
AI augmentation can enable doctors to spend more time with each patient.
“now that I've augmented doctors with these AI tools, they're going to spend more time per patient, not less time per patient.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:39:29
People regret missed actions more than attempted actions that failed.
“the mistakes I regret the most are the things I didn't do, not the things I tried that failed”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:44:41
Seth Godin would not choose to live forever.
“No.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:50:23
Being the only immortal person would be a curse.
“selective immortality is real curse.”
Open the episode · The Quitting Expert: Sunk Costs Are Keeping You TRAPPED, Quit Before AI Comes! | Seth GodinListen at 1:50:50
Writer’s block is a misnamed phenomenon rather than a distinct condition.
“there's no such thing as writer's block. Writer's block is real, but it does not exist. What it really is is misnamed.”
Open the episode · #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreListen at 47:12
Doing private bad writing is the way to overcome fear of bad writing.
“And the way through is to do your bad writing. You don't have to ship it to the world. But you have to do the bad writing.”
Open the episode · #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreListen at 47:27
Sustained production eventually allows good writing to emerge from bad writing.
“And bad writing over time. If you do enough of it, can't persist. Good writing will slip through.”
Open the episode · #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreListen at 47:35
Godin rejects the muse and considers talent unimportant to creative work.
“I don't believe in the muse at all. I don't think there's any outside force. I don't think talent really matters.”
Open the episode · #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreListen at 50:42
Creative success depends on finding a small audience, understanding genre, and iterating.
“I think what matters is choosing to find your smallest viable audience, understand your genre, and explore what it means to make magic in the small so you can do it again.”
Open the episode · #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreListen at 50:48
Writers may be poor judges of when their own work is ready to publish.
“this might not be your best skill. Knowing when it's ready to publish.”
Open the episode · #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreListen at 53:38
Generosity consists of spending emotional energy or labor to help others.
“Generosity means that you're expending emotional energy, emotional labor to help somebody else.”
Open the episode · #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreListen at 57:11
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
2 episodes featuring Seth Godin
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Seth Godin explains why strategic quitting is a career superpower
Understanding when to pivot and how to cultivate uniquely human skills is critical as artificial intelligence reshapes the modern workforce.
Aug 10, 2026 · 1h 53m
The Tim Ferriss Show
Master creators reveal the strict systems behind successful writing
By demystifying the creative process, world-class authors show how to replace the myth of inspiration with reliable, repeatable systems.
Aug 5, 2026 · 59 min