The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
by Seth Godin
Timeline Unknown
Los Angeles, CA
In the past month, many of my friends and connections have been sharing with me the desire to move on from their current jobs or end the projects they’ve been working on. They’re quitting. I’ve also found myself reconsidering several of the initiatives that I’ve been involved in, receiving pressure from others because I shouldn’t be a “quitter.” I found this book by Seth Godin, which resembles his other books: small but packed with ideas and puts you in the mood to think and get going. I’ve realized that quitting can be the right move if it’s for the right stuff and at the right time. I enjoyed how his mentality of being the top and the best aligned with mine.
As for quitting, it’s all about strategy. If you realize you cannot be the best, you should pull out before you get yourself too deep in. Preferably, if you know you’ll never be the best at something, the best time to quit is before you even start, that’s mature. If you think you can become the best and have a well-thought-out plan, then you should go for it. It will be hard and challenging, but it’s brave. That's the whole reason why there’s scarcity and why the scarce get the benefits. When others quit, it creates even more scarcity, pushing up the value of those who are determined to deliver. The stupid thing to do is go in something, try your best, waste a lot of time and money and quit in the middle. If you can’t be No.1 or No.2, get out, this is also a mentality mentioned in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. If you’re a person who works on multiple initiatives or projects, an important thing to consider is that you should also quit all the Cul-de-Sacs that you’re currently idling your way through since they take up the time and energy from the work that you could be best in and take you far in life. It’s easy to detect the problems, but hard to act on what you’ll do about them. In short, if you don’t see yourself moving up or going anywhere, pull out.
He explains how being the best at something is valuable, due to the scarcity, especially in a world where choices, services, and resources are rapidly increasing. We all want the best for ourselves when making a choice for ourselves or buying something, “best” being subjective since we get the best for ourselves within our own standards and means. When it comes to the best, I’m notorious for being someone who only accepts the best on world-class standards for my people and projects. I do not accept anything that’s mediocre and do not compromise on the details when it comes to achieving excellence. The fault in me is my stubbornness when it comes to the determination to deliver, I simply do not want to give up until we’ve accomplished the mission, this has led to delays for other projects that could’ve reeled bigger benefits.
When quitting, it should be done with a safety net in place somewhere. Decisions should be planned out and made in advance, never in a moment of euphoria or panic. You must ask yourself who am I trying to influence, differentiating if your decision will impact that one person who’s determining your future or if it’s the market. Then analyze the measurable progress you're making, it’s only three choices: either you’re moving forward, falling behind, and standing still. Even if it’s small, you should always keep moving forward.
The part I found very funny and true, finding myself telling a lot of people in this passage from the book: “When was the last time you heard about someone who stuck with a dead-end job or a dead-end relationship or a dead-end sales prospect until suddenly, one day, the person at the other end said, “Wow, I really admire your persistence; let’s change our relationship for the better”? It doesn’t happen.”
He mentions how being well rounded is not the secret to success and that specializing is proven to reel better results, I disagree with this. I’ve personally experienced that being a generalist and being well rounded helps us more and have been reading a great book, Range by David Epstein, which discusses this opinion in more detail.