Seth Godin Quotes

I don't put the focus on things that don't matter.

I have four jackets, five pants, whatever, that are all the same. If you see U2 in concert, they wear the same thing every night. They just got a bunch of them. Albert Einstein used to wear brown suits every day. Why waste brainpower on something that is trivial?

Keep out of your mind, and out of your office, and out of your world, every element that seeks admittance with no definite, helpful, useful end in view.

A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with-that's poverty-but how efficiently we can put first things first. . . . When you're clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it's clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar. (148)

It's important to keep life simple, and if I'm traveling, I only can do a couple of things, and those are the things that I'm meant to be doing.

It’s easy to forgo distractions and to not accumulate things when you have a larger goal on the horizon.

Simplifying our lives does not mean sinking into idleness, but on the contrary, getting rid of the most subtle aspect of laziness: the one which makes us take on thousands of less important activities.

Believe it or not, it is not only possible to accomplish more by doing less, it is mandatory. Enter the world of elimination.

I can't focus when there's too many things around. Whenever I used to go to the office, I used to always say, 'Tidy up.'

When you remove layers, simplicity and speed happen.

You can only do so many things great, and you should cast aside everything else.

While I am busy with little things, I am not required to do greater things.

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

Through your life, most people peel away the junk that's not useful, that's superfluous. You are determined to peel that away. I do one thing at a time. One man at a time. One car. One house. One child. One job.

I have learned to pare down what I do and still be effective and strong in a role.

I'm not too easily distracted now I've had practice, but I write with nothing to look at. I used to rent an office that just had a view of a wall!

Appealing workplaces are to be avoided. One wants a room with no view, so imagination can meet memory in the dark.

When I work, I wear pants usually because I want to be comfortable. I wear dark colors, especially in winter, because I don't want to concentrate on myself but on what I'm working on. Because I really, really love clothes, I can start to think too much about myself. It's distracting.

Avoid trivia.

Sometimes entrepreneurs, successful people, need to put their blinders back on. They're losing their day to distraction, to faulty obligations.

I'm able to think more clearly when I don't have clutter and stuff around.

Most people in business and within their personal lives move towards complexity. More To Dos. More projects. More products. More meetings. More possessions. More goals. The best - I suggest to you - move in the opposite direction.

It's better to do one thing at a time and give your full concentration.

We need to execute fewer things better.

I'm known for having a very small to-do list and a big don't-do list.