The Dip Book Review

I’m a Seth Godin disciple. And I had been long before I interned with him in the summer of 2008. I read most of his books. “Linchpin” might be the most important career book you ever read. That’s why I’m not quite sure how “The Dip” fell through the cracks.

After a great friend, Jenny Blake discussed living for the dip  on her blog, I knew I had to add it to the mix, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally snagged a copy. Thanks Kevin Espiritu!

Some will argue that the prescription is too simple. They’ll say that Godin is stating the obvious, but if that was the case then how come so many people are dissatisfied with their jobs? With their lives?

If you don’t want to spend 45 minutes reading the book, here’s the gist: The people that succeed escape the dead ends. They quit the things that won’t get them to the top and they endure the barriers and the obstacles that most people won’t in order to get to the top of their respective niche and/or field.

Technically, that’s probably all you need to know, but here are some of my favorite antidotes:

 On quitting:

Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.

The biggest obstacle to success in life, as far as I can tell, is our inability to quit these curves (things that won’t benefit you in the long run) soon enough.

Quitting the Cul-de-Sacs (dead ends) frees up your resources to obsess about the Dips that matter.

On enduring the dip:

Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a tiny bit longer than most.

Quit the wrong stuff.
Stick with the right stuff.
Have the guts to do one or the other.

Real success goes to those who obsess. The focus that leads you through the Dip to the other side is rewarded by a marketplace in search of the best in the world.

The marketers who get rewarded are the ones who don’t quit. They hunker down through the Dip and galvanize and insulate and perfect their product while others keep looking for yet another quick hit.

The opposite of quitting is rededication. The opposite of quitting is an invigorated new strategy designed to break the problem apart.

Short-term pain has more impact on most people than long-term benefits do, which is why it’s so important for you to amplify the long-term benefits of not quitting.

When you start over, you get very little credit for how long you stood in line with your last great venture.

Short-term pain has more impact on most people than long-term benefits do, which is why it’s so important for you to amplify the long-term benefits of not quitting.

Simple: If you can’t make it through the Dip, don’t start. If you can embrace that simple rule, you’ll be a lot choosier about which journeys you start.

On being first:

You’re not the only person who looks for the best choice. Everyone does. As a result, the rewards for being first are enormous. It’s not a linear scale.

The truth about selling:

Selling is about a transference of emotion, not a presentation of facts.

On job-hopping:

The time to look for a new job is when you don’t need one. The time to switch jobs is before it feels comfortable. Go. Switch. Challenge yourself; get yourself a raise and a promotion. You owe it to your career and your skills.

You can check out other business book reviews here.