What will it take for you to 'quit the but'?

Have you heard of Seth Godin?

Recently, Seth (author, marketing guru and all-round genius in my book) was on Steven Bartlett's DOAC podcast. I confess it's not a show I usually listen to. It's too long and... well, Bartlett fatigue!

But when Seth speaks, I listen

The episode in question, released this month, was billed as "The Quitting Expert." Godin used the framing of the Gordian Knot, the ancient story of a knot so complex nobody could untie it, until Alexander the Great simply cut straight through it, to make his point: the knot in your life or business usually has one hidden pole holding the whole tangle together. Find that pole, and the knot loosens by itself.

For Godin, that pole is often an unexamined contradiction. Wanting two incompatible things at once, and refusing to name the trade-off. Which is precisely where the word "but" comes in.

How the word 'but' creates a tension

In our lives and in our businesses, "but" is the word that lets us hold two conflicting truths at once without ever resolving them. I have thoughts on this, as you'll know if you've read my book.

Often the best gift we can give ourselves is the permission to quit: to walk away from the historic anchors ("buts") that slow us down and prevent us from pursuing contentment (whatever that looks like for us):

• The job that drains us (but that pays the bills)

• The 'white whale' of a project (that distracts us for too long)

• The comfort of familiarity (versus the life we deserve)

Godin's own take on resistance, the term he borrows from Steven Pressfield, is that it can't be eliminated. But we can name it, and then work with it. Naming your resistance means that it stops operating in the background and starts becoming a choice you can actually make.

Reducing the drag (quitting the but)

In terms of 'reducing the drag' (in the business sense), Seth shared his own definition of what great marketing is, at its smallest and simplest level:

Make a promise that you can keep, to the smallest number of people that is enough.

In other words, deliver on your word to the smallest audience that makes your business viable (or that makes your life enjoyable). It's a version of what Godin has long called the "smallest viable audience," and it strips away almost every excuse a "but" relies on. You don't need everyone. You need enough.

And "enough" is usually smaller, and more achievable, than the version of success your "buts" have been measuring you against.

And that got me thinking

What about the promise(s) you make to yourself (just you)? Perhaps it's:

• To finish each day with a smile (rather than a sigh)

• To achieve a better balance between 'being' and 'doing'

• To give others your presence (not your presents)

A promise to find your own answer to my favourite two questions:

1. What is it you REALLY want?

2. Why is that so important to you that you are prepared to take the brave and brilliant action required to make it happen?

Are these promises you can keep?

Or is there a 'but' in the way?

Give that some thought. Because my take on Seth's words is this: YOU are already enough.

Is there a 'but' you could quit this week?

Let me know in the comments.

Mark Franklin is The Four Fears® Guy: a transformational mindset coach, speaker and author working with creative professionals and small business owners who are ready to close the gap between the business they have and the one they actually deserve.