How To Become An Indispensable Person In 4 Easy Steps?

Do you play a key role on your team? Do you make a significant contribution to the projects you are working on? Do your friends enjoy themselves more when you are present? Are you indispensable?

Seth Godin, author of Linchpin, asserts that simply showing up, doing your part, and working hard won't be enough to advance your career. Instead, Godin argues that we all have tremendous potential that we are underutilizing. You are a genius, according to the book's opening line.

This is the premise of the book The Pillar, in which Godin advises us to focus on discovering the artist and genius hidden inside each of us and on growing to be completely indispensable.

Everyone, according to Godin, possesses a genius that only needs to be brought to light. You can solve issues, affect positive change, and prevent failure thanks to this genius.

The signs that Godin thinks we should investigate for them to become essential to our lives and work will be discussed in this article.

How do you discover your genius, then? How can you be the main focus? Godin suggests the following concepts for us to adopt to accomplish this.

How To Become An Indispensable Person?

1. Produce stunning artwork

Paintings, sculptures, films, plays, songs, and books are all examples of art, but they also include anything from a person's passion, creativity, or personality. Art is not always what we think of it in the traditional sense.

Consider what you enjoyed doing as a child:

• Creating new outfits for your Barbie.
• Creating castles out of cubes.
• Lemonade stands in your play area.
• Making a calculation.

Everything here is art because it is inspired by passion.

When we were young, we followed our passions and unknowingly evolved into amazing statisticians, fashion designers, and architects.

Since the beginning, we have been doing it because we enjoy it and it comes naturally to us, but somewhere along the way, we have lost our enthusiasm. We're told to put the dresses we've made and the castles we've constructed out of blocks in the shed and concentrate on fitting in and adapting to the world around us. Follow the directions and report to work and school.

Remember that a machine can still not create art, even in today's world of automation and rapid production.

Here are some unconventional examples of what Godin views as art:

• A business founded by entrepreneur Tony Hsieh is dedicated to offering outstanding customer service.
• Designer Jonathan Ive created the iPod.
• Ed Sutt developed nails that would strengthen homes.

Think about the work you're doing right now in light of this. Are you doing it out of obligation or because you genuinely love it?

You have allowed yourself to truly create art if you discover this passion or focus on it.

2. Reduce resistance

Seth Godin wrote in Linchpin, "The lizard brain (the most primitive part of our brain) is the source of resistance. It's the reason you're afraid, the reason you don't do all the art you can.

The first part of our brain, known as the lizard brain, is in charge of the biological urges that have allowed Homo sapiens to survive for the past 200,000 years.

The cerebrum, which is located in the front of the brain and is in charge of thought, recognition, problem-solving, speech, vision, and memory, will always fall short when compared to the amygdala, also known as the lizard brain, which is in charge of keeping us safe.

The lizard brain activates and mounts various defenses to ensure you return to where you were when you start to overcome that part of your brain to think, question, and impart your knowledge.

Here are several examples that you may be familiar with:

• Procrastination.
• Obsession with excellence.
• Not keeping appointments.
• Making a defense.
• A sense of "not being good enough."
• The impression that you ought to give up.
• Thinking negatively about other people.

These are all illustrations of resistance and how the lizard's brain works.

How do you combat the lizard brain?

Understanding failure

This is not to say that you shouldn't have tried in the first place or that failure is bad. Instead, learn from your mistakes, figure out why something didn't work, and push yourself to accept failure and turn it into a springboard for your next move.

Here are some strategies for understanding and getting past the lizard brain:

• Recognize your flaws.
• Start working before you're ready.
• Check to see if your justifications are true or appropriate.
• Find uncomfortable situations and put yourself in them to overcome yourself.
• Only sometimes seek authorization.

3. Give attention and presents

Tribal economies have been based on gift culture; in earlier times, kings, queens, and chiefs were the ones who bestowed the most gifts. Their ability to give everything they had was the foundation of their power. After a while, this idea evolved, and the wealthy and powerful began to receive most of the gifts.

According to Godin, the development of the Internet has allowed us to revert to the original tribal understanding of the giving economy. In the digital age, we have more opportunities to present than ever before, and we can build communities of people who interact with artists and one another.

Here are a few examples:

• Creative Commons.
• Gutenberg Projects for books.
• Music streaming site NoiseTrade.
• Ramit Sethi, a businessman, offers 98% of his resources without charge.

The original artwork of the person who made the gifts and gave them to others helps to create a community of people who connect with one another.

Godin believes that by giving away your work for free, you can establish a solid following. It might be great concepts for blog posts, breathtaking images, or publicly accessible software you created.

The point is not to assume that gifts must be reciprocal. In other words, don't stress over the notion that anything you give should be returned to you.

Godin discusses the connection between art, giving gifts, and people in this passage: "One of the reasons art has such power is that it is the most precious gift we can give; it improves communication to the people we work with or communicate with, and it strengthens the relationship between people.” So, think about some gifts you can give to develop and improve your relationships.

4. Share your creativity with others

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, is quoted by Godin as saying, "True artists pass on their art." The original Mac was released in 1984, and the designers worked nonstop for several days to complete the project, unsure of whether it was finished or ready but they were confident that they were ready to share the idea with others at that point.

Starting a project, creating something new, and then passing it on to others may seem very simple, but it's the last step where most people overcome their fear and find it extremely challenging to move forward.

You have undoubtedly encountered this in your life. Here are a few scenarios that could have happened to you:

• Publish a piece of your own.
• Complete your resume.
• Call to set up an interview.
• Make a presentation's slide deck.
• Sell the cake you worked all day on.

According to Godin, "the collision between your work and the outside world is the process of communicating your work or your ideas to others." For most of us, it seems like a collision indeed, which is why being able to communicate your ideas to people constantly can make you a major focus. Godin discusses two major obstacles that those who can effectively communicate their ideas have been able to overcome, namely:

The first is the idea of conflicting viewpoints. For most of us, the more people involved in a project—coworkers, bosses, etc.—the closer it gets to completion, the more it falters and changes. As a result, spreading it among people becomes more challenging.

When it comes to the person who serves as the project's main pivot, they can gather these people's opinions and allow them to intervene early on rather than later. As the project nears completion, the number of participants and changes that take place in it decreases, which makes the process of passing it on to others much simpler.

Coordinating is another difficulty. Projects in businesses frequently involve a large number of stakeholders, and when a project looks promising, everyone wants to get involved.

The problems get worse as the project involves more people. Large group coordination can be a nightmare; it can easily cause the project to fall apart and cause the delivery date to be continually postponed.

The solution is as follows

What's the main reason we can't move? Be strict about who participates, and have someone pivot to run it. Once more, the lizard's brain's resistance is blamed for this.

The ability of the main axis

Godin identifies seven essential skills that describe how an indispensable person functions in The Pillar. This does not imply that you must possess them all; rather, these are various ways in which the individuals who served as the main interlocutors demonstrated the justification for the impossibility of living without them.

1. Communicate specially or distinctively with those inside and outside the organization.
2. Foster originality.
3. Handle difficult circumstances.
4. Lead with the client.
5. Motivate other workers.
6. Have extensive knowledge of something.
7. Be unique in your talent.

All these abilities can be taught and learned, but our lizard brain, which likes to sneak up on us and tell us we're not good enough, prevents us from doing everything we are capable of.

Consider your present skills and abilities

• Did you recognize any of them because they matched the previous list?
• Can you develop a way to proactively develop your talents and skills to become a focus?
• Do you have a strong passion for anything that will help you advance?

According to Godin, there is no set path to becoming a main focus; rather, if we want to challenge the status quo and forge a new course, we must each figure it out for ourselves.

Are you willing to put in the time and effort necessary to shine?

Key ideas

• Each of us has a genius and an artist inside of us.
• Get out of the position that society has placed you in and decide to be unique.
• Always expect the lizard mind to try to stop you.

The Pillar teaches us very little about the current work system and how to choose to see things differently and asserts that being a good and generous person connects people and ideas and creates art as a way of rewarding. Creating art in everything you do and enhancing your genius will only benefit you.

The wisest decision you can make now is to choose the right route according to Godin. It's the only strategy that will produce results because once you establish your irreplaceability, you'll reap the benefits, including increased job security, autonomy, and compensation.

The more you can resist the lizard mind's attempts to hold you back, the more prepared you will be to move forward, regardless of how hard you try to motivate yourself.