I recently read a blog post written by Seth Godin. It was called, Ridiculous is the New Remarkable.
In the post, Seth speaks of a 19 pound behemoth book he recently put together and sold as part of a kickstarter campaign. He said it was heavy enough to kill a small mammal. I believe him.
Suffice to say, Seth’s 19 pound book was not practical. It was not realistic. It was not simple, in style, or even sensible.
Seth himself said it cost him way to much to even ship these books! So, why would someone do this?
I laughed when I saw this picture.
No, it was not any of those things. But, it was ridiculously, crazy, and truly FANTASTIC!
It blew the minds of the people who received it. I mean, for crying out loud, to top it all off, the beast of a book has rubber duckies on the front!
What I am saying here is that ridiculous is as Seth says, “Remarkable.”
Was it ridiculous for us to blog for 365 days straight? Uh, yes!
Is is ridiculous for this girl to paint a picture every day? How about for this guy to have a goal of traveling to every country in the world by the time he is 35? Yup and Yup!
Is this race ridiculous? Definitely! How about this guy’s passion for paying off debt so you can do what you love? Totally.
What about this family who sold everything they had and moved to Costa Rica just because they wanted to.
Something about all of those things is thrilling, isn’t it? People doing what they set out to do.
Big goals, big dreams.
They don’t make excuses as to why they don’t or can’t. They simply find a way. Period.
Their stories are not perfect. They are riddled with hardships and failures. But, that is what makes the stories even better. Through the hardships and failures, they tried things. They did stuff. They pursued life.
Would you still pursue publishing a book if you were rejected 900 times? Seth did.
Sadly, many people never even try. Or, they try once and give up as soon as they are rejected or it gets hard. These same people know deep in their heart they could have tried harder. They are capable of much, much more.
So, what is the lesson to be learned from the 19 pound behemoth?
Do your work, whatever it is, and do it ridiculously well!
Do extravagant, passionate work that wows people.
Who cares if it seems ridiculous. The ridiculousness is what makes life fun, daring, and a wildly fascinating adventure.
That ridiculous notion you have been tossing around in your head, maybe it is time to consider it.
