I just read Linchpin by Seth Godin... loved it.

Do you ever read a book at just the right time, that says just the right things? Do you ever feel like an author just looks into your head and then tells his story to you like you are sitting with your best friend outside the Royal Bank in Espanola (hi Leann)? Linchpin by Seth Godin is that kind of book for me. As I was reading it, I kept stopping to reading passages to my husband and that is usually a good sign that it has captured my imagination.

This discussion is a gross oversimplification of the book, but I think that we all hold onto the moments in a book that most pertain to ourselves, don't you?

Linchpin is about how to become indispensable at work but it goes so much further - it is about overcoming our fears (that darn lizard brain) and becoming the artist in your life.

Godin talks about how the world doesn't need workers anymore, it needs artists. Coincidentally, my husband is a professional visual artist but Godin's definition is much more. To be a linchpin, we have to stop doing what we are told and doing the same old thing and instead, find a passion and become an artist. It is the artist who holds the power in our world. He throws in a bit of marketing and a bit of Marxism - awesome!

Not that I have ever been really good at fitting in... but it is very inspiring to read how Godin believes that fitting in is the worst way to succeed. Since everyone can become a linchpin, I guess we have all felt this, but sometimes, I tell you, I feel alone in a sea of sheep (he calls them "sheepwalkers" - ha ha).

These simple words, so obvious, will ring in my ears over the bleating of the crowd:"You can either fit in or stand out. Not both."

Thanks Seth.