Tribes

British novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard once said, “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” Best-selling author and Squidoo.com founder Seth Godin concurs. He explains why you should act on your lifelong dreams. He focuses on leadership – how to gather fellow believers, build them into a tribe and achieve outsized results – and discusses ways to use social media to launch your tribal movement. Godin does a great job of identifying the negative mental and spiritual habits people use to excuse inertia. He explains how to become the leader that your tribe – and the rest of the world – needs. Becoming such a leader, being charismatic, being positive and being active are all choices you make, Godin says, not gifts you receive. Although he falls into some of his usual, but heartening, hyperbole and repetition, getAbstract finds that Godin’s points are well-taken and encouraging. He provides real-world examples of people who have seized upon seemingly crazy ideas, the fruits of their joys and passions, and made them work successfully. You can do the same: Shine a light, build a tribe and make a difference.