The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)

Sometimes it's perfectly OK to be a quitter. Yes, this may seem contrary to everything you've heard before. At the same time, Seth Godin knows what he's talking about. In his book, The Dip - A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (And When to Stick), Godin shares insight to help you determine if you're on the right path and if maybe you should quit or stick it out. We all know that every new project, career opportunity or even hobby usually starts out with tons of excitement and enthusiasm. Then, somewhere along the line we lose initiative, maybe we're not as zealous as we once were or perhaps we're simply stuck in a rut. One thing is for certain. If you continue to do the same thing you've always done to get the same results you've always gotten that may not be enough to survive let alone thrive in today's business world. Ask yourself "Am I doing the best possible job I can do?" Be honest. Chances are there are areas of your performance that really need to be juiced up. Godin poses the question "If you're not going to put in the effort to be the best possible choice, why bother?" Why, indeed? It's much easier to be mediocre than it is to confront reality and quit. According to Godin, quitting is much harder than you might think. Quitting requires you to realize you'll never be #1 in the world. At least not at what you're doing right now. So, it's easier to put it off, not admit it - it's easier to settle for mediocre. Mediocrity is rampant in this day and age. The Dip illustrates lackluster attempts at success such as; ALL CAPITAL LETTERS in a job application, junk mail with misspelled names, salespeople who are eager to open an account but never follow up, doctors who don't bother to call to see if the prescribed medicines are working. I'm sure you can come up with a handful of examples yourself. Here's another question from Godin, "Are you hoping to become a success because you're the only one being considered?" If so, it's time to reassess your own motivation and realize you are not the only game in town. Not only that but the internet has taken business to a global level and you can bet there ARE other choices. Here's another thought to ponder. According to Godin, some of our learned behaviors originating from our school days are the source of discontent and even failure. Godin points out "Just about everything we learned in school about life is wrong, but the most wrong thing might very well be this: Being well rounded is the secret to success." He goes on to ask, "How often do you look for someone who is actually quite good at things you don't need them to do?" "How often do you hope your accountant is a safe driver and a decent golfer?" In a nutshell, it makes more sense to be really good at one thing, your specialty and that will set you apart from the crowd. Chances are you're really passionate about one thing but can do many. Wouldn't you be happier focusing on your passion? There are, according to Godin, three curves

A very brief but thought provoking book by Seth Godin. 'Winner's never quit' is an everyday maxim, but it is not necessarily true. You should quit if it won't get you anywhere: the cul-de-sac. Likewise, you shouldn't quit if the short term pain will be offset by the large long term benefits. Of course, the hard part is in the trying to identify which scenario you're in, and this book might help you do exactly that. Highly recommended.

Listen, I have ghostwritten for some of the top online marketers and have also been at the helm of many corporate endeavors for years. I think some people may assume thi sis common knowledge, but it isn't followed! Seth shines light on a simple way to recognize when you need to quit, push past, and rev up your momentum for bigger and better things. If you're an online marketer, I especially recommend this book because more than any other industry, we're caught up in "multiple streams of income" and every hyped up buzz factor that gets driven into our paths on a regular basis. I'd consider this mandatory reading, to be honest with you.

Seth Godin has an uncanny ability of delivering the right information at the right time on his blog, in his books, and live. In the late 1990s as I was struggling to understand the impact of Web marketing, he published his classic Permission Marketing. I immediately applied those ideas in my role as VP marketing at a reasonably large NASDAQ traded technology company. Soon after, as the Internet bubble was wearing thin and I was in a professional dip, Seth published a remarkable little essay on his blog about the benefits of quitting your job. That was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment and before long I was a scared entrepreneur starting up my own business. The first few years were great: I was building something and it was refreshing not to have to run ideas through the corporate machine. I made the decisions. But soon the little things started to bug me: buying the printer paper and dealing with mundane nonsense like Web hosting and booking airplane trips. I wasn't as engaged as when I started and business wasn't as good. I had hit another dip. But it was a different kind of dip than the one where I quit my job. This was not a dip that required quitting. Fortunately I powered through that second dip. In a smart and small package, Godin's The Dip lays out everything you need to understand about dips: How to identify the times that it's best to quit and move on and the ways to recognize when, if you just stick it out, you can become the best in the world. Powerful stuff. But Godin's work always is. Read The Dip. Then wait a few days and read it again. You'll appreciate the words of wisdom even more the second time.