[Book Review] The Dip by Seth Godin

I snagged The Dip by Seth Godin at a local thrift store for just a dollar! I couldn’t believe it; what a find! I brought it with me to the gym and read it while I walked on the treadmill. I didn’t leave the treadmill until I had read it cover to cover. It took less than an hour to read. 

I thought this book was absolutely incredible! If you are struggling with your job, a project at work, or any other project in your personal life, this is a must read!

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin

To say this book was incredibly interesting to me would be a major understatement… just look at all those tabs!

I tabbed sections that were inspirational or clever. I also marked pages that I want to make sure I go back to when times are tough. 

I loved that the “stigma” around the word “quit” is addressed numerous times. It’s so frustrating to me that we are all taught that quitting is for “losers.” That is something that is so ingrained in my brain that I always feel incredibly guilty when quitting something; whether that is quitting a job or DNFing a book. And that shouldn’t be the case at all!

There is a section that explains the three types of people at a grocery store that really put things into perspective! Soon after that, there’s a header titled “That Noise Inside Your Head,” which then moves into a paragraph that is eerily spot on with exactly what was going on inside my head as I was reading this book.

There’s a lovely section titled “Three Questions to Ask Before Quitting” that I know I will go back to time and time again as I work to simplify my life. If you’ve followed me for awhile, that isn’t news to you! You know I am spread so incredibly thin and that I have so much going on that I run at full speed all the time. Days off with NOTHING to do are incredibly rare. The last day of nothingness was back in the Wintertime when I caught a nasty norovirus, which forced me to do nothing but lay around…

My favorite element of this book was how positive it was. No matter what the specific topic, it was written in such a lovely tone that kept me feeling upbeat; like I could really change the way things are currently going for myself. That there, is EXACTLY what I look for in self-help books. Far too often I have been stuck with ones that make me feel worse while reading. 

My Favorite Passages from The Dip

Sometimes we get discouraged and turn to inspirational writing, like stuff from Vince Lombardi: “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” Bad advice. Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.
Quit the wrong stuff.
Stick with the right stuff.
Have the guts to do one or the other.

The mass market is dying. There is no longer one best song or one best kind of coffee. No there are a million micromarkets, but each micromarket still has a best.

Successful people don’t just ride out the Dip. They don’t just buckle down and survive it. No, they lean into the Dip. They push harder, changing the rules as they go. Just because you know you’re in the Dip doesn’t mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don’t last quite as long when you whittle at them.

The opportunity cost of investing your life in something that’s not going to get better is just too high.

The problem is that only a tiny portion of the audience is looking for the brand-new thing. Most people are waiting for the tested, the authenticated, and the proven.

Short-term pain has more impact on most people the long-term benefits do, which is why it’s so important for you to amplify the long-term benefits of not quitting. You need to remind yourself of life at the other end of the Dip…

Persistent people are able to visualize the idea of light at the end of the tunnel when others can’t see it. At the same time, the smartest people are realistic about not imagining light when there isn’t any.

Never quit something with a great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment.

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Thanks for reading!
If you’re a fan of self help or business books, I’d love to hear about your favorite ones in the comments section below!