Free Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck?: And Other Provocations, 2006-2012 by Seth Godin Page B

Hence this proposal:
    THE TWO-DEVICE SOLUTION
    Simple but bold: Use your computer only for work. Real work. The work of making something.
    Have a second device, perhaps an iPad, and use it for games, Web commenting, online shopping, networking … anything that doesn’t directly create valued output. (No need to have an argument here about what is work and what is not-work—draw a line, any line, and separate the two of them. If you don’t like the results from that line, draw a new line.)
    Now, when you pick up the iPad, you can say to yourself, “break time.” And if you find yourself taking a lot of that break time, you’ve just learned something important.
    Go, make something. We need it!
Which of the Four Are Getting in the Way?
    You don’t know what to do.
    You don’t know how to do it.
    You don’t have the authority or the resources to do it.
    You’re afraid.
    Once you figure out what’s getting in the way, it’s far easier to find the answer (or decide to work on a different problem).
    Stuck is a state of mind, and it’s curable.
Waiting for the Fear to Subside
    There are two problems with this strategy:
          A. By the time the fear subsides, it will be too late. By the time you’re not afraid of what you were planning to start/say/do, someone else will have already done it, it will already be said, or it will be irrelevant. The reason you’re afraid is that there’s leverage here—something might happen. Which is exactly the signal you’re looking for.
          B. The fear certainly helps you do it better. The fear-less one might sleep better, but sleeping well doesn’t always lead to your best work. The fear can be your compass: it can set you on the right path and actually improve the quality of what you do.
    Listen to your fear but don’t obey it.
Building a Job Vs. Building a Business
    Either can work, both do, but don’t confuse them.
    The shoemaker/copywriter/plumber who seeks a regular itinerary of gigs is building a job—a job with multiple bosses at the same time there is no boss, but still a job. You wake up in the morning and you do your craft, with occasional interruptions to do the dreaded looking-for-work dance.
    The entrepreneur is in a different game. For her, the gig is building the gig.
Easy Vs. Do-Able Vs. Impossible
    Often we consider an opportunity based on how easy it is. The problem with this analysis is that if it’s easy, it’s often not worth doing. It’s easy to start a blog, but of course, starting a blog doesn’t really deliver a lot of value. Posting 4,100 blog posts in a row, though, isn’t easy. It’s do-able, clearly do-able, and might just be worth it.
    Successful organizations seek out the do-able. When Amazon went after the big bookstore chains, analysts ridiculed them for doingsomething insanely difficult. But it was clearly do-able. Requiring persistence and talent and a bit of luck, sure, but do-able.
    Sometimes we seek out things that are impossible. Building a search engine that’s just like Google but better is impossible (if your goal is to dominate the market with it). It’s fun to do impossible projects because then you don’t have to worry about what happens if you succeed—you have a safety net because you’re dreaming the impossible dream.
    Do-able, though, is within our reach. Ignore easy.
The Warning Signs of Defending the Status Quo
    When confronted with a new idea, do you:
Consider the cost of switching before you consider the benefits?
Highlight the pain for a few instead of the benefits for the many?
Exaggerate how good things are now in order to reduce your fear of change?
Undercut the credibility, authority, or experience of the people behind the change?
Grab onto the rare thing that could go wrong, instead of amplifying the likely thing that will go right?
Focus on short-term costs instead of long-term benefits, because the short term is more vivid for you?
Fight to retain benefits and status earned only through tenure