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The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) By Seth Godin ( Portfolio Hardcover )
Release Date: 2007-05-10
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $12.95
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Product Description
The old saying is wrong—winners 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 point—really hard, and not much fun at all.
And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you’re in a Dip—a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s 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 guilt—until 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, you’ll 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 Dip—they get to the moment of truth and then give up—or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.
Whether you’re a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you’re in a Dip that’s 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 quit—so you can be number one at something else.
Seth Godin doesn’t claim to have all the answers. But he will teach you how to ask the right questions.
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 This Book Doesn't Deserve Negative Reviews...
...Simply because the title should give anyone an idea of who the book was written for.
If you already know when to quit or when to stick, then don't get this book.
If you're already successful and are happy with your career path, then don't get this book.
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However, if you're like me who's faced with so many opportunities but have a tough time deciding which to pursue, or if you're stuck in a job and can't figure out if it's really good for you in the long-term, or if you find yourself constantly sacrificing the fulfillment of your Big Dream, then The Dip is a short wake-up call that packs a punch.
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Arguably, Seth Godin may have just rehashed what has been said before, but I've always believed that the joke is in the telling. There are many career development books out there that more or less say the same thing, but we go for that one author who uses the right words to make things sound fresh.
And to me, Godin delivers.
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When the going gets tough - read the Dip
You will get better at anything you attempt if you put in the effort. After a while you will need to put in more and more effort for less and less gain. If you stick to your guns you will emerge as one of the few experts at whatever it is you chose to do. If you don't stick to your guns you should quit fast before you put in too much effort for the gain you will get before quitting.
That is pretty much the entire message of the book. However, it is delivered in typical Seth Godin style with witty pithy observations and some astute criteria that will help the reader to decide when to invest the effort and when to cut their losses and run. In addition to `the dip' of its title the book also describes two other curves that sum up most of my life's experience: the cul-de-sac where you just can't make progress no matter how much effort you put in, and the cliff, where effort is rewarded until sudden catastrophe strikes.
Anyone who has attempted to break into the world of the professional non-executive director will be familiar with the dip. At first it is all so easy, you work, you get qualified, you start to gain experience and then WHAM, the dip happens. This is where your hard-won experience and qualifications just aren't enough to get you that important first paid directorship. This is where people start to say `stick with it for two years and if it hasn't happened by then you should give up'. Seth says that is rot and I believe him. If you are going to give up, give up now before you waste any more effort. If, like me, you are determined to succeed, then love that dip. It is the dip that will eventually separate you from your competitors when you come out the other side and they quit trying right where the dip gets steepest.
The dip analogy works for everything from losing weight to becoming a champion golfer. The discussion of how to tell if you are approaching a dip, a cul-de-sac or a cliff edge is a bit lacking in specific differentiators. Even so; this is a helpful and practical book that gave me plenty of `Ah Ha' moments.
There is a shocking error on page 19, where Seth talks about the `unchecked' decision-making power of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. But, apart from thus insulting about three thousand fortune 500 company directors, this book makes non stop sense.
Did I like `The Purple Cow' more? Yes. That was a cute and sweet little book. This book is useful; more of a workhorse than `the cow'. It is a well observed analysis that I shall probably return to again and again. I know I will enjoy re-reading it and will find something new to apply it to every time I return to its pages.
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A very timely perspective ( soetes )
This book probably saved me from myself. We were starting up yet another business. And this one seemed different at the outset. It had more going for it than anything else we have done and the timing seemed right. We embarked on it with more enthusiasm than before and when everything started to fall into place, we were excited beyond belief.
Then we hit the Dip. A couple of things went wrong. And because we'd been so excited initially, it felt like a kick in the guts. We lost faith rapidly. It all seemed so hard.
Then I read this book. I now understand where we were and why we had to embrace, not avoid, the Dip. If you want to go after something that's important to you, you have to read this book.
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Some Solid Statements in This Book
I originally gave this book a lousy review. (I bought the CD). But after thinking about it for a while, I changed my mind. It does not cover every possible angle of the "dip" concept and all of its ramifications. However, the basic argument of the book is sound. The lesson of the book is simple. If you are going after a worthy goal, make sure that you give it your best. If you get hung up (the dip), keep pushing. You will get results beyond typical. If you are not going after a worthy goal, drop it and move on. Simple but great advice. I originally got hung up on all of the "what ifs" resulting from this concept. Don't overthink this book! Take it for what it is - a very simple set of rules for basic decision making.
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Stuck at the Bottom? ( skmccartney )
"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.
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Addiction
