I have been wondering lately, what separates me from the Tim Ferriss’ and Ryan Holiday’s of the world and how can I become like them.They all also started out just like me, young and inexperienced. How do I become like them? I decided to read “The Dip” by Seth Godin and see what he thought were the reasons that were stopping me from the being the best in the world. And here was the surprising lesson I learnt : Learn To Quit. Quit the dead-end job. Quit selling the product no one wants. Quit mediocrity. Success is not always about pushing through but it’s also about knowing what and when to quit. It’s a question we ask ourselves often “How do I know when to quit .”And if you are anything like me, you just give up and stick with the mediocrity. But before we understand when to quit , we should understand the types of situations we face and what situations we should quit.
#1. The Dip :
The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. When we start learning anything new, be it guitar, programming or Chinese, the first few weeks are fun and interesting. Then the Dip happens. It’s the legwork needed to get to real accomplishment.
What to do : Successful people don’t just ride out the Dip, they lean into it, push harder and change the rules as they go.
#2. The Cul-de-Sac :
The situations where nothing is getting better, nothing is getting worse. It just it. Like your dead end jobs.
What to do : The opportunity cost of investing your life in something that’s not going to get any better is just too high.Quit the cul-de-sac so that you can focus your resources elsewhere.
Anything worth doing has a Dip. Dip creates scarcity, scarcity creates value. Those who get through the Dip, are the ones who become the best in the world. You should resist the urge to quit , just because you decided to give something a shot and then it turned out to be hard.
The opposite of quitting is an invigorated new strategy designed to break the problem apart.
So how do you face a Dip. Here are three questions to ask yourself before quitting :
1. Am I panicking?
When the pressure is the greatest to compromise, to settle or to drop out, we panic and decide to quit. It is the absolute worst time to quit. The best strategy is to decide in advance when you will quit and resist the urge to quit right in the middle of the Dip.
2. Who am I trying to Influence?
If you are considering quitting, its because you current attempts haven’t been successful. Take a step back and evaluate the situation. Are trying to accomplish the task with just the one approach because it’s the convention, even if it’s not getting you anywhere? Are you trying to approach the problem from a different angle? Don’t just nitpick about a single situation, look at the big picture. At the end of the day ,are you getting closer to your long term goal even if the current strategy doesn't work out?
3. What sort of measurable progress am I making?
When in the Dip, measure your progress even if it is incremental and ask yourself “If you left the marketplace, will people miss you?” If you are not doing anything exceptional and nobody cares if you stay or go, then QUIT. The challenge is to surface new milestones in areas where you have previously expected to find none. IF you are making measurable progress, stay, if not quit.
Bonus things To do :
1.Write down under what circumstances you will quit and when. And then stick to it.
2.If you can’t be the best in your market. then redefine the market. Choose a more specific, niche market.
3. If a tactic or strategy doesn't work in the short term-Quit. Every tactic you use is a means to an end. Don’t quit the end result but if the tactic is not working, then quit the tactic.
Let me know in the comments what “Dip” are you facing and how did you use quitting to overcome it.
p.s. All advice is credited to "The Dip" by Seth Godin.
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