reedom comes with choice and choice comes with responsibility.

Why do people willingly give up their freedom to a boss, a method or even a despot?

Why do successful entrepreneurs who start a new company take on investors even when they don’t need the cash?

Why do so many choose to go into debt when they might be able to avoid it?

Sometimes, we willingly sacrifice our freedom because it creates an other, someone to blame. It gives us hard boundaries and eliminates potential choices. And mostly, it lets us off the hook, because someone else is driving the bus.

Trying to drive from the back of the bus might feel less risky, but it rarely leads to much agency, influence, or control as to where the bus actually goes.

Careful what you do with the keys.


A version of this post originally appeared on Seth’s blog.

Seth Godin

Author Seth Godin

Seth is the author of 17 books that have been bestsellers around the world and translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. Seth is also founder of squidoo.com, a fast growing, easy to use website. His blog (which you can find by typing “seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne. In 2013, Godin was inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame, one of three chosen for this honor.

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