The Origins of 'Jerking People Around' and Reflections on Humanity and Connection

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Seth Godin is the author of 21 international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about work. His books have been translated into 38 languages and Seth’s books include Tribes, Purple Cow, Linchpin, The Dip, and This Is Marketing. Seth writes one of the most popular marketing blogs in the world, and two of his TED Talks are among the most popular of all time. He is the founder of the altMBA; the social media pioneer Squidoo; and Yoyodyne, one of the first internet companies.

His new book is The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams. 

Please enjoy!

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[05:42] The changes of aging.

[10:07] How Seth gets over momentary lapses of optimism.

[16:13] The Carbon Almanac.

[18:40] Addressing 21st-century nihilism.

[26:23] Finding significance and making a difference.

[35:34] The boss and the bees.

[44:47] Ethically reclaiming meaning from work in the Quaker surveillance state.

[51:50] Seth’s impression of my efforts over the years.

[56:21] Circumnavigating false proxies.

[1:02:17] Employee retention.

[1:05:54] Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play.

[1:08:07] Zig Ziglar.

[1:12:12] Seth’s early career life.

[1:13:45] Seth’s current career life.

[1:17:01] The 140-year-old piano.

[1:19:35] Meetings.

[1:24:04] Page 19 thinking.

[1:27:37] Soliciting useful writing feedback.

[1:31:36] Parting thoughts.

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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

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