When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?

It's always good reading Seth's books challenging your paradigms and making you think and take action. This one especially gives you the feelings of going out there straight away and do epic stuff while moving your business forward

Uhhh... 4 stars? Really? Seriously, are all Seth Godin fans stoners? I am starting to question whether Seth even went to business school. I think he just read "Oh The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss and ran with it.

Review: While "Poke The Box" may sound like an porno from the Wubbulous World of Whoville (Seuss reference), it's actually Squidoo founder Seth Godin's attempt at inspiring his readers to "do something."

It's not that it's bad - it's a quick, fun read, I guess. It's just not particularly insightful.

Meh.

I like to read several self help books, especially on sales, adventures in business, etc. This book seemed a bargain on my Kindle, but you really get what you pay for. The book lost me mid way through as it never seemed to go anywhere after the first 30% was read. Just endless repeats of the same message, without much to hold your interest. I would not recommend this book.

A very insightful account of self evident truths which does a great job of inspiring you to do more, want more, and even inspire others more. Nothing in this book was really new to me but the way it was presented was very inspirational, insightful, and just pleasant to read. Very easy read too, took about 2 hours.

I strongly recommend this book for individuals who just need to know that life has so much to offer and that by taking initiative you seize control over your future and destiny. "Go!"

Great book!

E.G.Hale

Just ok. Not mind blowing. If you are looking for ideas on how to shake things so you can move forward this may help. Really just one basic idea. Don't sit around thinking about what you might do. Just do it. Action is better than no action most of the time.

Loved reading this little book. It landed in my space at just the right time to be VERY helpful! Definitive? No, but it certainly helps to lubricate the brain matter and get it going. Smooth transaction. Definitely recommend.

This review is mainly about the condition in which my book came. I ordered a new book shipped from the store. The book cover was ruined by a large tracking sticker across the front cover. There is NO way to take this off without destroying the book. I bought this to give as a gift but I cannot give it. I am returning the book in hopes that I get another one that is not ascetically destroyed.

Seth Godin scores again with his self described "rant" to get you to not just think out of the box, but to poke into other people's boxes and through your own fears and limitations and just get out onto the field. This felt like a continuation of his last book - "Linchpin" - which I felt was a better book - but this is a new fresh kick in the pants to get out there and do something worthwhile. It's well worth the short time it takes to read it.

This is a fantastic book and is really calling on all of us to SHIP IT!!! Get stuff done and get it out. There are too many folks who sit on the sidelines and point out flaws in others work - get out there and make it happen. Very inspirational and makes you want to finish off what you started

I really enjoy the simplicity of Seth Godin's ideas and this is the perfect medium to assimilate them by audio. It's quite short also (about two and a half hours) so getting through it isn't a problem. Highly recommended.

The basis of this self-help, inspirational business book is simple: don't fear failure, take the initiative. In short: poke the box.

I purchased the Kindle version of this book at the $1 special offer. The book edition weighs in at a slim 96 pages. Those 96 pages are mostly a compilation of aphorisms: "Life is a buzzer box, poke it." "The more you do, the more you fail." "Go to work on a regular basis." "Art is hard. Selling is hard. Writing is hard. Making a difference is hard." "Initiative is scarce." An occasional metaphor fills out the text: "Whether you're polishing a piece of furniture or an idea, the benefits diminish quickly. The polishing turns into stalling."

Between the aphorism and metaphor, Mr. Godin inserts stories of successful people who initially failed. "Talk to any successful person. He'll be happy to fill you in on his long string of failures." The assumption being that failure leads to success. No one wants to hear from the multitudes who never attain the summit of success. To Godin's credit, however, the only failure in his mind is doing nothing.

Unfortunately, as the author himself writes: "The world is a lot more complicated than it appears." Aside from the inspirational quips, this book is not only short in length but also short on substance. The world is more complicated than simple aphorism, and success is more complicated than poking the box.

If you need a poke of inspiration to get your initiative flowing, there's something here for you. If you're interested in substance, look elsewhere.

I understand there's an upcoming "Poke the Box: The Workbook." Perhaps the missing substance here will appear in the workbook, or perhaps Mr. Godin wants the sell me another book. Now that's poking the box!

Especially on Kindle, 5 minutes reading this is a fantastic way to start the morning. Just a few pages of reading this book is enough to remind me that however strong or weak my talents or ideas, I can make a difference in my job or with the people around me. It's highly motivational, but also highly logical. Godin finds plenty of examples of what winners did to succeed, and you realize that the one thing they all did was try. Start. Go for it. Thank you, Seth.

Seth Godin never disappoints! In this book he encourages us to quit waiting around, quit making excuses, and to stir things up. 'Poke the box' is a metaphor for taking the first step. It's about initiating.

This was a fun and easy read, and left me wanting to get out of my comfort zone and start something. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Seth Godin never disappoints! In this book he encourages us to quit waiting around, quit making excuses, and to stir things up. 'Poke the box' is a metaphor for taking the first step. It's about initiating.

This was a fun and easy read, and left me wanting to get out of my comfort zone and start something. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I came across this latest "Manifesto" from Seth Godin and couldn't resist downloading it to my Kindle. I wasn't disappointed. He focuses in on the premise contained at the heart of "Linchpin" and offers inspiration to get out of the comfort zone and make something happen. He succeeds.

I recently read Poke the Box while on vacation. I'm a big Seth Godin fan so I knew the material would be good but I didn't quite know what to expect from this particular Title.

Let me tell you, if you're looking for a quick, easy yet powerful and motivation read Poke the Box is worth the $4 or whatever you pay for it.

Another great title in this space and price point is The Social Tools Book. Read Poke the Box then take that enthusiasm and apply it to The Social Tools Book.

Highly recommend!

Ryan H.

Interesting, thought-provoking ideas. You've clearly defined the problem in America... We've been so used to having things handed to us that we've forgotten how to initiate, integrate & eventually dominate. Getting started now Seth!

Neither a manual nor a how-to guide. An inspiring short read on poking the factory mindset, rejecting the "pick me!" economy, standing up and being ready to look ridiculous! Poke the box is about starting and finishing things, setting the settings on your own and getting things out of the door. Being on a shipping mood and mode is a posture and a standpoint. You either get it and ship or you miss it altogether and skip...

A succinct read that provides a good jolt of motivation to be curious in our jobs. Godin's theme is oft-repeated throughout this book; but for a short read it's a motivational piece to be curious, to continually ask "what can be different" or "what can be improved".

Seth does it again with another thought provoking piece of literature. This book helped to shape our company vision, making us realize the importance of being the "starters" of our industry. I would recommend this book to anyone, specifically our younger generation. Never before has initiative been more important. Poke the Box is the perfect catalyst to push anyone over the hump of mediocrity.

Chase