Assume the Best

Credit: Kicks Digital Marketing

Have you heard of Seth Godin? He’s a marketing genius known for…well, his genius.

He’s written 20 bestselling books, speaks around the world, has published more than 8,000 posts on his blog (he’s a believer in daily blogging—no wonder I like him) and has built impressive educational platforms, such as the altMBA.

He’s founded several companies, including one that was acquired by Yahoo. His podcast is in the top 1% of all podcasts and, to really drive the point home, I saw him most recently on Billions when he was in a cameo role on Mike Prince’s Board of Directors.

So basically, he’s a pretty impressive guy.

Also a wise one, as he’s built his success by sharing ideas. He spends a lot of time thinking, that Seth Godin. And it shows.

I’m musing about him today because of something Seth-Godin-y that’s happening in my life.

At this very moment, I’m sitting in a hotel lobby, laptop-ing away while people around me chat with their friends and eat their breakfast.

A few years ago, when I still got paid to learn about marketing things, I heard Seth on a podcast talking about a similar scene.

He was on vacation, staying at a dazzling resort somewhere in the Caribbean. One morning, he was down in the lobby laptop-ing as the sun rose.

Seth is a person who loves his work. I don’t know if you could tell by his bio, but chances are high that Seth has surpassed “F-you money” and could retire anytime he darn well pleases. With wealth, no less. He could probably go live out the rest of his days on a dazzling island if he wanted.

And yet, there he was, on vacation, staying at a fancy resort, up with the sun and on his computer.

A couple who was just returning from a night out drinking stumbled past him and drunkenly mocked him. “Look at this schmuck,” was the general drift. “Staying at a resort that people dream of visiting and he can’t even unplug. Another workaholic chained to his desk, probably selling his soul to afford a vacation like this, then not even being able to enjoy it.”

“Way to be failing at life, buddy,” the drunken couple was implying.

Seth looked up, observing as they stumbled past him to the elevator.

These two people, who knew nothing about him, had just made a pretty cutting judgement. One that, incidentally, was completely wrong.

Seth didn’t need to be on his laptop. He’s not a workaholic chained to his desk, selling his soul to finance opulent vacations.

Frankly, I don’t even get “this is a guy who cares about status or opulent vacation” vibes from him at all.

What Seth is (and what those people couldn’t see) is someone who loves his work.

Not his paycheck (though I’m sure that plays a role). Not the prestige of his success (though, again, I’m sure it’s motivating). But the work itself.

And, in our “live your purpose” and “love your job and you’ll never work a day in your life” obsessed culture, so many people yearn for exactly what Seth has. EXACTLY what he has.

The couple who mocked him—they probably dream of what he has. Do you know any American under the age of 40 who “came to” in the tech-entrepreneurs-as-celebrities era who doesn’t at least kind of want that for themselves? To find that thing that doesn’t feel like work that will also make them filthy rich?

It’s pervasive. Not everyone goes for it, of course. Some people, like my friend Austen, are tired of pretending that money is real and they’re stepping out of the system. Other people come into adulthood with so much financial abundance that doing something simply for the sake of earning money is ludicrous.

But most of us middle-of-the-roaders (“householders” in traditional spiritual language) have something about this. This “find your thing, find your thing, find your thing” blurred with “money, money, money.”

And yet, if you saw a guy laptop-ing away at the crack of dawn at a fancy resort, would you perhaps also think, “Look at that schmuck who can’t even take a day off”?

Just to be clear, this isn’t a “go for it” musing. This isn’t an “if you work hard enough, you too can have what Seth Godin has” post. Nor is it a “close your eyes and visualize this reality for yourself and it will come your way” essay.

It’s a “hey, maybe we don’t need to make assumptions about other people” musing. One that’s relevant to me because I have weeks of travel ahead of me and hobbies that require me to be on a laptop. Musing, for example.

I don’t want to be mocked. I don’t want to be looked at with pity or scorn. I want to celebrate that I’ve found a hobby I cherish so much. One that brings so much joy to my life that I have no desire to take a vacation from it.

So, that’s a lot of words to boil down to this: assuming the best of everyone we encounter feels like a better approach. Maybe that person who’s laptop-ing away isn’t doing it because they’re a workaholic, but because they love what they do. Maybe that ogre who’s picking M&Ms out of the sewer isn’t homeless and going to rob you, it could just be my brother Shrek.

We never know, do we?

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