World Famous Comics: The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
By: Seth Godin Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Portfolio Hardcover Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 96 Publication Date: May 10, 2007
Product Description: The old saying is wrongwinners do quit, and quitters do win.
Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low pointreally hard, and not much fun at all.
And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe youre in a Dipa temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe its really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.
According to bestselling author Seth Godin, what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.
Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guiltuntil they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, youll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.
Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dipthey get to the moment of truth and then give upor they never even find the right Dip to conquer.
Whether youre a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if youre in a Dip thats worthy of your time, effort, and talents. If you are, The Dip will inspire you to hang tough. If not, it will help you find the courage to quitso you can be number one at something else.
Seth Godin doesnt claim to have all the answers. But he will teach you how to ask the right questions.
Stuck at the Bottom? "Being the Best in the World Is Seriously Underrated"
The Dip is a book dedicated to being the Best. Why settle at being anything else? The book also is very helpful in determining when to quit. Quitting is a part of a success time line. I have been in each of the cycles that Seth describes in his book the Dip, the Cliff, and the Cul-de-Sac.
Seth just has a way of simplifying the process to identify what to do in each of the above cases. It is a remarkable mix of common sense and guidance in asking the hard questions to yourself about your situation.
Little book. Big love. It's a short book, but I'll summarize it shorter:
If things start to suck on the way to being the best in the world at something, don't quit. Otherwise, don't even wait for things to suck. Just quit. Because things will suck before they get great. But being the best is worth all the suck there is.
That's the dip.
So why buy the book? Why go to church if you already know the story? Why go to the gym if you've already been? This stuff is so fundamental and so NOT common sense that you just can't be charmingly reminded often enough.
I've bought it and given it away about ten times.
Get the dip.
Talking About an Almost-Never-Asked Question This book may initially look like your average typical "Never Give Up" material. But Seth Godin, in his better-than-average ways, has produced something which is both original and worthy of serious attention (especially in a world obsessed with success and never-quitting).
Firstly, one must never give up, yes. But this attitude is critical only for those skills/ideas/products you have which make you the best in the world (the 'world' meaning which community/market you're a part of and necessarily all the continents if you know what I mean).
Secondly, for anyone who wishes to achieve anything spectacular, there will always be a period of dryness, lethargy, costs exceeding benefits, (apparent) failure which one has to go through i.e. there will be a Dip.
Push through this and you'll come on the other 'end' of the loop a winner. What's important - and thank God(in) for the reminder - is that we must ANTICIPATE and PLAN for the Dip.
Another famous speaker who mentioned something which sounds like a Dip is Randy Pausch who said that:
"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!"
Where Godin differs would be in two things:
1. The brick walls can be overcome if you're the best at what you do (this is when you must STICK)
2. The brick walls should be accepted and left behind if not (this is when you must QUIT)
Which brings us to his third point, the one that raises the most eyebrows surely: You must recognise there are times one must stop or, better yet, not even start a project.
Why? Because if you're not the best and there's no chance you will be, pushing through the Dip only creates discouragement and takes away time you should be putting into that which you can be world-class in.
To stick? Or to quit? That he even raises the second question puts Godin in the top 1% of the world's best thinkers and advisers. That it's okay and even commendable to quit is an almost-never-asked question which is more than way overdue.
This is not a how-to book. It's a why-not manual, a look-here work, an always-remember guide. It's also one the best (if somewhat subversive) "motivational" books around, one which nobody who's ever thought long and hard about irreversible (or hard-to-reverse) decisions related to careers and business can afford to miss.
Best thing is: It's a short book. No way you'll quit on this one.
Simple but true. This is a very simple but powerful concept that will help those who apply it to achieve more in all areas of their lives.
No Good This book was awful! It tells you to quit, then not to quit, then says to watch out for cliffs and cul de sacs, but never shows you how to recognize whether you are in a dip, on a cliff, or in a cul de sac. Also, the book states numerous "facts" without ever stating how these "facts" were garnered. Was this through scientific methodology, his personal hunches or observations or something else entirely? It espouses that an attitude of scarcity creates opportunities for winners when most "real" thinkers espouse an attitude of abundance. It was not worth the short time it took the read this book! Don't bother.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
