The Practice by Seth Godin - Book Review
Reading a Seth Godin book is like scrolling someone’s profile on Tik Tok.
A series of short-form pieces hit you one by one, each one meaningful and insightful in its own way. No specific idea is drawn out, but the combination of all the pieces creates a cohesive understanding for those willing to stick with it.
Godin has published a blog every day for over a decade, and this writing style comes through in his books. Every paragraph is like a chicken broth bouillon, a rich idea boiled down into its most essential form. A typical self-development or business author could take any one of Godin’s paragraphs and turn it into a main thesis for their own book. But Godin presents hundreds of compelling ideas through the course of The Practice, each of them very helpful and meaningful to creatives.
I will admit to feeling confused by Godin’s writing style at first. Each section of The Practice is so condensed, that I didn’t feel like I completely “got it” after each section was over. This feeling of not totally understanding something is rare in self-development work, as authors will explain an idea well past the point of understanding. But once I caught on to Godin’s style, and decided to keep reading idea after idea, they came together to create a richer understanding than I thought was possible.
Enough about Godin’s style. What about The Practice is special?
It’s exactly what our culture needs right now. That’s what’s special.
The internet has created an economy for creators that is better than it has ever been. The ability for people to share their work, and cultivate a community online, is unparalleled. But with the decreasing cost of entry into creative fields, the level of long-term commitment has decreased among creatives, since there’s less personal investment all around. Godin seeks to solve this problem by giving creatives the tools to commit to their practice, and engage with their audiences for the long haul.
Important concepts like being agnostic about writers block, seeking out constraints, being a generous professional, and making assertions help bring the creative mindset into a consistent space. There’s no magic to it with Godin–only consistency and generosity.
It took me about six months to read this book, because I picked it up about once a week, read something that was helpful to me, and then mulled it over until I needed something else.
If you’re a creator, pick up The Practice to keep on your shelf. I guarantee the ideas in this book will serve you for years to come.
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