Brace for Impact by Seth Godin

The latest book, Poke The Box is a call to action about the initiative you’re taking – in your job or in your #life, and Seth once again breaks the traditional publishing model by releasing it through

The rest of the time, not so much. If your car is about to hit a tree at thirty miles an hour, or the jet is about to slam into the wall of the Grand Canyon, it’s not altogether clear that tensing all your muscles and preparing to be squashed is going to do you much good at all.

Worse than this, far worse, is that we brace for impact way more often than impact actually occurs. The boss calls us into her office and we brace for impact. The speech is supposed to happen next Friday and we spend a week bracing for impact. All the clenching and imagining and playacting and anxiety—our culture has fooled us into thinking that this is a good thing, that it’s a form of preparation.

When you walk around braced for impact, you’re dramatically decreasing your chances. Your chances to avoid the outcome you fear, your chances to make a difference, and your chances to breathe and connect.