The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
by Seth Godin
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 462)
It's all pretty obvious, but I saw a copy of this 80-page book lying around at work and figured that I could use something to read in the gym. The main point doesn't even need that much space to get across: persistence is overrated; if one doesn't expect long-term success in something (be it a career, relationship, or whatever), it's better to quit immediately than stick with it. The Dip is the hard slog between being barely competent at something ("beginner's luck" is the phrase God...more
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Read in October, 2007
I'm a fan of simple and this book is simple. The message is clear:
Being the Best in the World is Seriously Underrated
The Dip refers to "the long slog between starting and mastery." Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority who are able to get through The Dip by persisting longer than most.
To be the best at anything you have to quit. You have to quit the right stuff at the right time. Quit the Cul-de-Sacs of life -- those dead ends are aren't likely to ta...more
Being the Best in the World is Seriously Underrated
The Dip refers to "the long slog between starting and mastery." Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority who are able to get through The Dip by persisting longer than most.
To be the best at anything you have to quit. You have to quit the right stuff at the right time. Quit the Cul-de-Sacs of life -- those dead ends are aren't likely to ta...more
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Read in March, 2008
Godin is known for pithy, thought-provoking "riffs" on the New World Economy. "The Dip" is another in that same vein.
In this slim volume, Godin takes on the issue of quitting -- how many companies quit the right things too quickly and stay with the wrong things too long. The way to superiority and best-in-market ruling is to power through what he calls "the dip -- " the long period of suffering and pain that comes before true success.
I think Godin has someth...more
In this slim volume, Godin takes on the issue of quitting -- how many companies quit the right things too quickly and stay with the wrong things too long. The way to superiority and best-in-market ruling is to power through what he calls "the dip -- " the long period of suffering and pain that comes before true success.
I think Godin has someth...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
First of all, you can read this book in a little over an hour, so it's so easy and fast that there is no excuse for not reading it! The Dip is a metaphor for just about everything in life. It talks about how important it is to be the best at what you do, and how anything worth having is worth working for. I often say to myself in business situations "if it were easy, everyone would do it." And this book explains why. It applies to school, marriage, business, careers, and so many other ...more
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Read in February, 2008
i have been enjoying Seth Godin's blog lately and I bumped into this book at the book store this weekend, bought it and read it. I think it, will definitely cause a major paradigm shift for me. Some people may say most of what he has to say in common sense but the information was presented in a new way. I have alway tried to be alot of things to a lot of people professionally, and thought it was good to be sort of a "jack of all trades". Much of my professional frustration comes from n...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone!
First of all, you can read this book in a little over an hour, so it's so easy and fast that there is no excuse for not reading it! The Dip is a metaphor for just about everything in life. It talks about how important it is to be the best at what you do, and how anything worth having is worth working for. I often say to myself in business situations "if it were easy, everyone would do it." And this book explains why. It applies to school, marriage, business, careers, and so many oth...more
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Read in August, 2007
While I'm not going to run out declaring that everyone must read this book, it was a concise book in the motivational vein about knowing when to quit--that stick-to-it-iveness isn't always the way to succeed. The author talks about how as children we are told to "never quit" when we actually should be prepared to quit, and it's the preparation that makes quitting a successful move, rather than one of desperation. Since I've had four jobs since 2003, it was nice to see some of my own ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2007
I had never heard of Seth Godin (www.sethgodin.com) before this week until a friend brought me to see him speak in Tempe. He was funny and insightful and made me think hard about what I'm doing with my business. In fact, I read the book in about an hour on Thursday afternoon after seeing him live and since then I have already "quit" a few things I was doing that was distracting from my overall business plan.
I'm going to bookmark his blog and subscribe to his RSS feed and maybe even...more
I'm going to bookmark his blog and subscribe to his RSS feed and maybe even...more
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Read in July, 2007
Read the book in an hour while waiting out rush hour traffic at the bookstore. While it wasn't a complete waste of time for me (I actually needed to hear some of the things Godin says in the book), the book definitely repeats the same message over and over again, sometimes using the exact same words. There were a few points I thought worth noting, and I jotted them down on a small napkin. If you're interested in this book, I suggest you save your time and read my napkin instead :).
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Read in May, 2008
This book gets 4 stars because it's so short. And it cost me $12 to get in eBook form. So the price to page ratio was a little high in my opinion.
However, the book is a fantastic read. And it pretty much has set the bar for me for Seth Godin's writing, so I hope his other stuff is just as good.
I liked the overall message of this book. The idea of quitting as a strategy to success is interesting but is well proven here. If you are wondering if you should quit your job, side job, a pr...more
However, the book is a fantastic read. And it pretty much has set the bar for me for Seth Godin's writing, so I hope his other stuff is just as good.
I liked the overall message of this book. The idea of quitting as a strategy to success is interesting but is well proven here. If you are wondering if you should quit your job, side job, a pr...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
people trying to make a life change
This book can be a useful tool in determining whether you need to make a change. While it's directed generally to a business audience (should we continue to sell widgets or move to e-widgets, for example), it can be useful in making other types of decisions as well. While I don't know that I gleaned a whole lot of totally new content, I did discover that I like the way the author writes and I intend to look at some of his other books. I also think it's useful to have all the content set out c...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone between jobs or wondering whether they should stay or go
This book came along at absolutely the right time. I had just quit a great job at a huge company where I saw no growth potential. I then walked away from an offer to do a good job at another huge but highly toxic company. I panicked. And then found a really creative job, with lots of potential, at a small company. This book really helped affirm my decision to go where I can grow. I will probably reread The Dip the next time I'm facing a "should I stay or should I go" decision -- in my ...more
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Seth Godin effectively engages the reader and really convinces you to shake up your way of thinking. Unfortunately, you're not left with much after reading The Dip to actually work with (admittedly, its a very short book). What's interesting is this book strives to be immediately useful and encourages immediate action but ironically, any decisions you make because of reading it are likely to require quite a bit of objective analysis (in business) or introspection (in one's personal life).
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You pick up this book when you find yourself in a certain phase in life and a dear friend was considerate enough to pick this up for me. Seth Godin masters the art of impactful sentences, or maybe even soundbytes, that are helpful for the poorly verbalized like myself. As I was experiencing a sense of aimlessness or stuckness or numbness that is hard to describe, this tiny book helped me define this vague sense (what kind of dip are you in?) in a very simple and snappy way.
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Read in January, 2008
Seth was the Keynote speaker at Keller Williams Family Reunion event in Atlanta this year. When I read the book back in January I had a difficult time getting past the word "quit" used frequently throughout the text. It wasn't until Seth spoke at Family reunion in February, that I was truely able to fully understand the power of the message he wanted to deliver in the book. If you ever get a chance to hear Seth speak take it!
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Read in January, 2007
Can anyone tell me when I should and shouldn't quit? Godin does, and thank goodness! I wish I had read this back in college. It would have saved me so much money and time. Great read! I recommend it to anyone who has ever quit anything when things seemed too hard, or whomever won't quit, even though they probably ought.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in August, 2007
recommended to Pam by:
Seth Godin, himselfrecommends it for: new business owners
quick read. I learned that if you feel like you're going no where fast and it's not worth the effort to make it past the dip - this book will help you. If you're stuck and can't make a decision - this book will help you. But, only moderately. It's not the definitive, life-changing book it seems like from the dust cover
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Read in January, 2007
A friend of mine gave me this cute little easy read. There wasn't anything marvelous about it, but "the dip" is a phrase used among those who've read this book to signify a despairing situation. The message? Hang in there and don't give up (unless your realized potential isn't getting you to your goal).
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
I signed up for a presentation by Seth Godin where one of the "marketing" things was pay $50 and get 5 copies of the book, plus the presentation, asking you to spread the extra copies out to friends. I did this, got a great response, and I wish i had bought 10 for the same purpose.
Whitney
Whitney
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Read in January, 2008
I learned nada from this small book. The author talks about being stuck in a cul-de-sac or pushing through a dip, but he never tells you how to determine which is which. So am I in a dip and I need to push through? Or am I in a cul-de-sac that I should abandon? Very unhelpful.
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