Seth Saeugling's Daily Blog

Harnessing Dark Emotions: Finding Your Kobe Killer Instinct

Kobe says that the moment everything changed for him on the court is when he realized he didn't have to run from the pain and scars he felt deep down but realized the court could be his outlet.

It is not about anyone else being in his way, it is about him being in his own way. It is about having a release and a place, a sactuary, to harness that emotion, release it and turn it into a positive.

Don't run from the pain. Embrace it. Harness it. Use it productively.

From the most beautiful pain comes the most beautiful art.

Choose to be great. Choose you will be the best version of yourself.

Hold yourself to these standards. Don't hold yourself to another's standards.

Always push higher. Let yourself feel the pain. Find the beauty in the struggle.

Thank you Kobe.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 30th, 2016

My Manifesto

Destroy and rebuild.

Have the courage to be my own person.

Don't worry about flying to low, worry about not setting my sights high enough.

Ruthlessly say "no" to the non-essential things in life.

Build. Build. Build. Build positive relationships. Build positive habits. Build positive mindsets. Build.

Forgive.

Don't take action based out of fear.

Don't get stuck in the past or in the future.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 30th, 2016

Building a Stronger Organization

Three areas to focus on:

1) Common language: How we talk about our work internally and externally. (aka Branding).

2) Habits & rituals: Surfacing & solving problems. Celebrating wins. Meetings. Check ins. Etc. (aka Culture).

3) Tools: Finding the most efficient way to execute our work. (aka Technology & Infrastructure).

By investing in any of these areas you will increase the understanding and capacity of your team.

Better understanding leads to better relationships and better problem solving. Which leads to a healthier organization.

Thank you Patrick Lencioni.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 29th, 2016

Flexible Thinking

Imagine your brain is like play-doh.

If you let it just sit there, without being stimulated. It will dry out.

But if you use it, play with it, keep your fingers moving through it; pulling it, stretching it, putting it back together; it will never go dry.

Keep your mind flexible.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 28th, 2016

Empathy is a Feedback Loop

How I related to you, influences how you relate to me.

If you want to change how others are relating to you, then examine how you are relating to them.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 27th, 2016

Inadequacy Marketing

Three simple steps to get rich:

Create Anxiety: Build the feeling of a negative emotion inside of the person you are seeking to sell to.
Choose from our deepest insecurities:
- Greed: "You are not in possession of what can make you happy."
- Fear: "You are not safe."
- Lust: “You are not attractive enough to be loved."
Introduce the magic solution: Make people believe the story that they can aleviate their anxiety through buying your product.

These three steps have been the foundation since the birth of marketing. See: 1950. And: 1991. And: 2014.

These three steps have entrenched the idea that “your only path to happiness is through consumption."

The problem lies not in our consumption but in our belief that the only path to alleviating our deepest fears is through buying stuff we don’t need.

Each time we fall for this trap we discover that the product does not fix our insecurities. And then the we feel even more inadequate than before. And so the cycle continues.

I’m not going to change our culture of consumption. But I can redirect it.

I want to consume knowledge. I want to consume history to learn what’s possible.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 26th, 2016

Get Clear

What is the intended impact I want to have? (on people, an organization, a community, etc.)
How will I measure how effectively I am fulfilling my intended impact?

Bonus questions:

How am I checking in regularly to see what is/is not working?
And then making the necessary changes to get better?

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 26th, 2016

Who Should I Follow?

Our evolution cemented us as tribal creatures. We seek to belong. We seek to lead and to follow. Often we follow people without even thinking about it.

We (subconsciously) follow others based on shared parts of our identity (gender, race, personality, religious or political beliefs, etc.)

We used to follow others because this was a necessity for survival. Most of us are lucky enough to no longer need this kind of protection from others.

I want to follow someone who:

I can learn from
Who shares (part of) my values system
Who is connected to others that I can learn from

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 25th, 2016

Build Your Creative Muscle

The most common job throughout the 50 states is truck driving. Trucks will be the first vehicles to replace humans with "self-driving" computers.

We are entering a period of time where computers (artificial intelligence & machine learning) will replace human operated jobs on a scale we can’t yet comprehend.

The less your job, and the tasks of your job, require creative input the more likely your job is to be replaced by computers.

Identify your creative value add. Spend as much time as possible building your creative muscle and thus your creative output.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 24th, 2016

Disagree, Don’t Vilify

When Joe Biden was a young Senator he was advocating for the Disabilities Act. Republican Jesse Helms opposed the bill. Biden went the press with the message “Jesse Helms does not value people with disabilities." What Biden didn’t know is that Jesse and his wife had adopted and raised a severely disabled child.

Disagree with the viewpoint, don’t malign the value.

More specifically don’t make assumptions about what other people’s values are based on your perception of their viewpoints.

Seek to understand. Control what you can control. Find common ground.

Seth Saeugling Posted on May 23rd, 2016