3 BOOK GOLDEN NUGGETS - SETH GODIN’S “the dip”

Think of Quitting Before You Start

That is the biggest advice i got from the 80 paged “The Dip”
by Seth Godin.

I know it may seem like bad advice,but as you listen further
and further into this audio, it will become clearer and
clearer to you why this is one of the best advice you’ll
never hear from anyone else.

But first, let me tell you what I learnt from this book.

1) Be the best.

International Ice Cream Association:
vanilla accounts for 30% of total ice cream sales and listen
to this, the next best accounts for about 8% and the rest
account for 5% and lesser

In August 06, the movie Invincible ranked #1 in the box
office rankings while Taladega Nights came in second.

Invincible made $17 m while taledega nights made $8m with the
rest of the movies making about $7m and lesser

That shows you that being the best can reap you about 2 to 4
times more rewards than the second best.

And i know in other professions you can easily make 10 times
more than the secnd best.. Just off the top of my head, I
believe lawyers, plastic surgeons, bands like the beatles
probably fall into this category.

To be the best of course is not easy, which brings me to the
next point.

2) The Dip

The curve basically starts with a positive outlook, curving
upwards a little bit before dipping lower and lower for an
extended period of time before curving upwards exponentially.

The dip is basically a point in time when you’re pursuing
a goal to say become the best skateboarder - which means
beating like Tony Hawk or sth.

The last part is what people normally call “Overnight success”

The dip sets in => when it’s nt tt exciting, when you don’t
really see the amount of success u expect.. but you know what
the ppl who are so-called overnight successes also go thru
the dip… but they went thru it months or years of the dip
in other words, they actually had to do all the donkey work
even though nothing seemed to be working tremendously well..

This is the time when most ppl quit when they really shouldn’t

If i’m not mistaken Tony Hawk took almost a decade to be the
best.

But I shall not talk about that becuz i’m not sure about his
history so I’ll give an example closer to home.

All my friends know that I suck at Math! But i’ve gotten A’s
for the big exams no matter what.

You see, I endured the dip, even though I din call it that,
I just called it PRACTICE!

Just to give you a rough estimation of how long the dip was
and waht i did to get thru it.. Imagine getting into junior
college and not passing ANY math exams all the way until the
final one..

And the practice? About 6 A4-sized 100 paged books with
words of inspiration to help you through the endless hours
of practice..

Imagine first being asked to drop the subject once, twice,
three times first by your Math teacher and then 3 more times
by your Econs teacher - and she’s not even teaching me the
subject..

Imainge all the discouragements, the disappointments when
you think u’ve made a gd grade only to get a lousy E..

but what happens in the final exams?

BAM! Just like tt.. An A.. Or the MAGICAL OVERNIGHT SUCCESS!

Now, the dip is very impt becuz it separates the winners from
the mass of men, from “THE REST”

What do the rest do?

They try to cope and what happens?

Mediocrity sets in!

They don’t quit.

Why?

Because we’ve been told tt we shud never quit and we will
win!

Because of our ego’s i.e. simply because we’ve been on this
road and we don’t want to give up even though the dead end
is in sight.

Quitting seems to suggest giving up.

But that’s not entirely true.

Quitting is gd if it’s almost impossible to be #1 at sth.

This is where people don’t quit when they really should!

So I believe mastery of life lies in this => the ability
to decide accuarately to pursue or quit something.

Seth Godin in this book calls the “NEVER QUIT” advice as bad
advice because what the people really mean is “Never quit
something with great long term potential just because you
can’t deal with the stress of the moment..”

And that is the essence of the this book..

But the most important principle here is..

3) Quitting before you start

Godin observes that we make rash decisions when we are under
a lot of stress or when we’re frustrated etc.

And one of those rash decisions is to quit!

Well, you don’t have to be Seth Godin to figure that out.

But the important point is to BE AWARE of it!

Because we can only prepare for something that we’re
aware of right?

So with this foresight, we write down under what circumstance
we WILL quit and when, and keep that as a solid guidline before
the effects of the dip starts to set in.

The book has a quote from ultramarathoner Dick Collins that
I want to share with you here:

Decide before the race the conditions that will cause you to
stop and drop out. You don’t want to be out there saying, “Well
gee, my leg hurts, I’m a little dehydrated, I’m sleep, I’m
tired, and it’s cold and windy.” And talk yourself into
quitting. If you are making a decision based on how you feel at
at that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.

Wise words indeed.

4) Quit Only When You Can’t Become #1 At Something But Can
Be #1 In Something Else

You see, one very important thing in deciding whether you
should continue pursuing something or quit it is this:

Is it worth my time, effort and money to go through the dip
and come out tops?

If it isn’t then we just have to find something else to be #1
in.

Simple.

5)QUIT OR NOT TO QUIT

Quit a TASK not a market, because market presence is priceless.

People are willing to give a chance to the guy who’s serious
about sth and being there for the long haul..

So when u’re trying to be the best at sth really think whether
that’s really what u can see urself doing 2 yrs, 5 yrs, 10 yrs
from now, and you should be fine.

SAIF IMPROVEMENT FOR THE DAY : Be the best at what we want
to be because #2’s just not going to cut it. Endure the dip
no matter what by first determining why and when to quit
even before we start. Our success ultimately depends on the
projects that work instead of those that get done halfway,
so truly decide if we can go through a dip, and then decide
to come out of it TOPS!

P.S. Wow! I gave you 5 Golden Nuggets instead of 3, I’m choosing
to be extraordinary and give my all even though I’m in the dip
right now.. I want to be #1!!! ;)

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