Book 281 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: The Most Incredible Artist I’ve Ever Met!

Book – Linchpin: Are you Indispensable? By Seth Godin (Part 2 of 3)

Book Description:

Few authors have had the kind of lasting impact and global reach that Seth Godin has had. In a series of now-classic books that have been translated into 36 languages and reached millions of readers around the world, he has taught generations of readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas. In Linchpin, he turns his attention to the individual, and explains how anyone can make a significant impact within their organization.

There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.

Have you ever found a shortcut that others missed? Seen a new way to resolve a conflict? Made a connection with someone others couldn't reach? Even once? Then you have what it takes to become indispensable, by overcoming the resistance that holds people back.

Reflection:

Linchpin is all about bringing your personal “art” to the workplace or whatever you produce in life.

This topic is so near and dear to my heart, and a lot of ways what this Year of Magical Learning adventure has been leading me to all along. I’ve spent the past 2 ½ years exploring what I care about most in this world and then trying to find ways to turn that into something tangible to share with the world.

Meaningful Work are the words I’ve chosen to label how I view bringing your art to the workplace. To make work meaningful, one must be able to connect what you value most in this life with the actions you perform each day to produce something to give to this world. That is what I call art!

In Linchpin, Seth Godin defined art as, “the intentional act of using your humanity to create a change in another person.”

As soon as my mind processed that line, I couldn’t help but immediately think of my precious Emilia and I started spontaneously smiling and crying at the same time! The line hit me like a ton of bricks as broke down thinking about her short but incredible time here on this Earth.

I thought to myself, “My daughter is an artist…and I’m so proud of her!!!!”

Emilia wasn’t just any artist; she is the most incredible artist that I’ve ever met or will ever meet in my life!

Watching her life from the sidelines and getting to see first-hand all that she fought through, overcame, and endured was the ultimate expression of humanity at its very best. She intentionally valued life so much that from the moment she entered this world, she knew that she would have to fight with everything she had for every single second of her life…and fight she did. She fought, and fought, and fought, and never gave up.

Being an eyewitness to her life and her ultimate expression of the power of the human will to fight and endure changed me forever. Her art was special, one of kind, and sight to behold. Emilia’s art completely altered my life and brought something out in me that I didn’t even know existed.

Every single day since I’ve met her, I’ve been on a mission to do my best to live up to her example in whatever ways I could. She is the reason why I got out of bed that first day after she passed away to keep fighting. She is the reason I’m so dedicated to living my values each and every day. She is the reason I run, play tennis, write, read, mentor people, etc. She is the reason why this Year of Magical Learning exists. She is the reason I quit my job and found a new one where I can help to guide, mentor, and lead others to help discover and express their art in the workplace. She is the reason for everything I do in life and will be until the day I die.

Please, if you are reading this, get to work on bring what is inside of you out into this world to share with those around you. Who knows, you may just end up being that person that changes someone else’s life like Emilia did for me. That is the power art!

Question: What artist’s work has inspired you and been a driving force for change in your life?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Linchpin by Seth Godin