The Dip

By: Seth Godin

Narrated by: Seth Godin

Length: 1 hr and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point: really hard, and not much fun at all.

And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you're in a Dip: a temporary setback that you will overcome if you keep pushing. But maybe it's really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

According to best-selling author Seth Godin, what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt: until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you'll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dip - they get to the moment of truth and then give up - or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.

Whether you're a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you're in a Dip that's worthy of your time, effort, and talents. If you are, The Dip will inspire you to hang tough. If not, it will help you find the courage to quit so you can be number one at something else.

Seth Godin doesn't claim to have all the answers. But he will teach you how to ask the right questions.

©2007 Seth Godin (P)2007 Audible, Inc.

Waste of time

I'm usually a big Seth Godin fan but this book was terrible! He spends an hour and a half telling you that if you cant be #1 then quit, if there is no light at the tunnel then quit, and don't imagine a light at the tunnel if there is none. Over and over.

What he doesn't say is how to know if there is a light at the end of the tunnel or if you are imagining one. When you have a great business idea, you always think there's light at the end of the tunnel but you might work for years in vain. This book doesn't teach you how to evaluate opportunities, how to know when to quit, how to know what's on the other side of the dip. It reads like a rough draft that should come back with repetitive sections crossed out and the words "needs to include more practical advice" on it.



I could have gotten the same advice from one paragraph about Jack Welsh. Godin just says if there is a big payoff after the dip then you should stay on track but if there's not then quit and don't be average. Duh. I think his editor should quit.

Touches to quitting, when to quit - just touches

As an opening act, the book tries to convince you that you should aim to be best in the world. "If you are not sold on being the best in the world, you probably don't need the rest of what I am about to tell you.", author says around 12th minute, and this sentence was nerving. I am not interested in being sold on being the best in the world! I am interested in making smart decisions about quitting.

The book keeps going on the being-the-best idea for quite a while. Making smart decisions about when to quit and when to persevere has no what-so-ever correlation with being the best. Therefore in my opinion the book does not deliver what its title implies (will teach you when to quit or stick).

Examples I can remember either are too obvious: e.g. deciding to learn snowboarding,
a. you do the brave thing, start and go through the tough parts, and complete
b. you do the mature thing, evaluate and decide it is not something you want to do
c. you decide to learn, spent a lot of money and time, and quit, which is the stupid thing to do.

Or too vague: if you do not see light at the end of the tunnel, then maybe it is time to quit?

Or logically faulty: Any of the 42000 graduates can become the best, but they did not, because they quit because of one reason or another.

The author puts these in a much more attractive way than I did (and if you read all #1556# characters of my review, then, since you persevere as I do, you might still find the book worthy. After all, I am not saying it is totally worthless. Just don't have high hopes!)

Seth Should Have Quit

I generally love Seth Godin's work, but The Dip, a book about the merits of quitting, was a meandering stream of consciousness essay that lacked substance and research.

A must listen for any author who

If you are a writer, you know the dip. It often comes after your first few weeks of writing a new book, after the subject is no longer fresh, the story is pretty much fleshed out, or your outline is fairly complete. . . then boredom sets in. The new challenges that stimulated you into all that hard work earlier, are no longer interesting. Now the hard, boring, day to day work comes in. The poring over your every word, comma and plot point--many times over. You are in the dip. The thing that separates the pros from the wanna-bees. This audio makes this concept very real, which also makes it very possible to overcome. It also may help you with finding out just how vested you are in a story or book, and if you should quit or persevere. This book is definitely worth a listen.

Good

this is nothing new or amazing, it is a good review of what most people already know just with new terms to define it.

Short motivational speech

Fine if you just want a small motivational push in the right direction. Not really what I had in mind. Concepts were explained superficially in several ways, but I found concepts to be obvious and unhelpful so repetition felt monotonous. Was hoping for some new ideas and methods to apply to real life.

I Quit!

Where does The Dip rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

“Quitters never win and winners never quit.” So said American football legend Vince Lombardi in what has become conventional wisdom.

But sometimes, conventional wisdom isn’t very wise. In his little book, the dip, Seth Godin claims that winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.

In order to go forward, we often have to QUIT something.

Seth Godin says that initiatives, jobs, hobbies and companies start out exciting and fun. After an exciting start, we experience “the dip,” a time when we get discouraged and feel like giving up.

The dip can be a temporary setback and will get better if you push through it. But it also might be a cul-de-sac (dead end) or a cliff that will be your certain demise.

A key is knowing how to read the dips and respond appropriately. Should you push through that job you hate, or abandon the dead end or cliff? Perhaps quitting is exactly what you need to do in order to go forward.

What other book might you compare The Dip to and why?

The dip is one of two books on quitting I’ve read recently. The other is Quitter by Jon Acuff.

Both authors claim that quitting is not always wrong; in fact, strategic quitting can be fantastic!

Though the style is very different, both books examine the subject, though from different angles.

Any additional comments?

The Dip and Quitter inspired me to write an article on my blog.

Wish the author had quit

Pointless book on an obvious topic. The only redeeming thing about this book is that it’s short. However, as short as it is, it could have been even shorter. The author should have just sent out a tweet. “Sometimes it’s best to quit.”

Should have been nothing more than the closing quiz

Wow. This sounded like a schizophrenic read to me. “You must quit what has no future potential! But you must persevere through the dip!” (The “dip” The hard part before an imminent success breakthrough) “You must quit!” “Don’t be lazy and quit!” Back and forth, back and forth. Perhaps that was the author’s genius... to get you simply to consider quitting. But as for a clear crystal ball? Yeah, hm...

Great book about why you should quit and what

I am sad that this book is no longer. The information in it is absolutely amazing.
I liked Seth's approach to quitting. He's talking about when to quit and when to stick to it, for what it's worth.
Seth's narrative performance is again at it's top

Can't beat a bit of Godin...

The latest from Seth fails to disappoint, having listened to every one of his books on Audible...I find them simply superb to inspire me on the 40 minute cycle to work each day...I work in marketing so they fill me with ideas of who to call, what to research and how to work more efficiently.

I would say The Dip is more singularly focussed than any of his other titles, and I didn't take many different ideas away, but just the one message well reinforced of when to quit and when to stick...in my work and personal life.

If you want an introduction to Seth Godin, then I'd recommend The Big Moo or All Marketers are Liars first....The Dip is better for experienced Godin devotees...but when you're ready, go for it!

A nice little read!

Seth Godin's writing and reading style is extremely interesting and his metaphors insightful. In this book "The Dip" he explains why, in his belief, some companies and individuals succeed and why others fail. By fail, Godin explains, they merely stop trying to get out of "The Dip". In everything we do we experience a dip, for example in the book, Godin gives an example of how many people would like to Snowboard but the Dip is the falling over, the sore joints, the cold etc and they give up. People face the dip and can hammer through and get to the other side or they can give up. Every professional in any field has faced this "Dip" but it's whether they've made it through or not that counts. Sometimes it's better to given in and accept that the Dip is too big, you don't have enough, time energy or capital to get through so facing it is the best option. Jack "the neutron" Welsh quit in the dip of many of GE's product lines. He decided that he would only allow GE to compete in an market where they could be place number 1 or number 2 in that market and devote thir time and revenue to those pursuits.

The book is full of little gems of information for such a small book and if you are interested in marketing then it's certainly a nice read. The book doesn't come out with anything very original except for the metaphors. One especially interesting one was that of the bicycle wheel and how starting to pump it is similar to starting the marketing process. The first few blasts of air/efforts are lost in the large market and it's not until we come to an equilibrium that it becomes effective.

In conclusion, it's a nice book to get in a sale but if you are looking for something on marketing with a bit of meat to it, then have a look at Godin's other titles "Permission Marketing" or "All marketers are Liars" both are excellent!

Please rate this review! Thank you!!

I wish that I quit this book.

You sum up the book in the title, namely if things get challenging, decide whether you should quit to spend your efforts elsewhere or persist in the hopes your competitors will quit. The book drones this on and on, not adding any value with every repetition. The reading is engaging enough but I feel the author just strung this out for a sale. Not recommended.

Some good points but a bit shallow

There are some good points but sometimes the message seems obscured when the author uses incomplete anecdotes. Or says things like "being average is for losers" as if being at the top is the only way to live your life.

A real eye opener

Accepting that you MUST face the dip is a real eye opener for me. Now I can decide strategically if I want to move on in a certain project or quit. Great advise

All management books should be like this.

Short but detailed. Simple not facile. Perfect length. If you like me start management books with motivation but leave a stack of half finished, half digested books in your wake, this book us for you.

Be the best in the world or quit.

Narrator is good. First time I've heard Seth speak.

All good advice which I agree with.

I have a difficult decision to make and this helped.

I have decided not to quit but I will write down the circumstances that would need to happen for me to quit.

That is my homework.

If those circumstances occur I will quit immediately.

If they won't happen I will continue indefinitely.

Its ok.

An extended blog post that contains a lot of repetition. I didn't blow me away.

Very poor

The book was repetitive and unsubstantial. I came out feeling that I wasted my money in purchasing this book.

Good message but very poor value for money

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, it was a message that made me think put forward in a very concise way.

What did you like best about this story?

Seth has one idea and instead of string it out into a long book with loads of repetition he just explains it in a clear way and that is good.

Do you think The Dip needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

The audio book just ends suddenly. It felt that there was more to say

Any additional comments?

This book is very poor value for money. It essentially feels like two chapters from a normal book taken to make into a short (1:45) audio book. Considering normal books of this type tend to be 5-7 hours. For one credit I could even have had something like Don Quixote at 36 hours so it is very poor value for money. I listened to it in two drives to work normally I would expect something to last me a week or two.