Knowing When to Quit

Finished reading The Dip by Seth Godin this morning. Took me all of about 3 days to finish - short book that packs quite a punch.

The general premise of the book is knowing when to quit and when to push through The Dip. What is The Dip?

It’s the fifth job interview where they never even call you back.

It’s the garage band playing to an empty club in the middle of nowhere.

It’s the seventh time you fall on your butt while learning to snowboard.

It’s the middle of the marathon, when the excitement of the starting gun is a dim memory, and the joy of the finish line is a distant dream.

It’s any rough patch you have to get through before achieving your big goal… if in fact you’re chasing the right goal.

According to Godin, the goal is being the best in the world in a given area. It is the cream of the crop, the superstars, the must-have product or movie, which garner the vast majority of the market share. And it’s not just a little better than the competition, either. It is usually ten+ fold above the next guy in line.

And yet most fail at achieving this lofty position. Why?

7 Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World

1. You run out of time (and quit)
2. You run out of money (and quit)
3. You get scared (and quit)
4. You’re not serious about it (and quit)
5. You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit)
6. You focus on the short term instead of the long term (and quit when the short term gets too hard)
7. You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent)

While I can’t look at my life and say I’m the best in a given area, I can see choices I have made to quit at times that have enabled me to make the greater step in the journey. In that sense quitting isn’t a dirty word. It isn’t even a moral failure. It is simply a choice, and a wise one at times.

Maybe quitting seems too strong a word. I think it is the matter-of-fact-ness of The Dip that makes it effective.

Posted 07.21.2008

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