A Book That Teaches You When to Quit

I recently read an article about the book “The Dip, A little book that teaches you when to quit.”  It was written by Seth Godin of “Tribes” and “Linchpin” fame.  I believe he primarily works with companies to get their employees motivated and moving forward.  He is also a marketing guru.  But, like with all things, you can take the message and apply it to your personal life as well as professional.  The book was released in 2007, but I had never heard of it.  It was intriguing for someone like me who does not know how to quit to read about a book that tells you that quitting the right things is the road to great success, and “winners quit fast, quit often and without guilt.” 

The gist of the article, and I assume the book, is that you need to focus on a few important issues and learn to avoid the “dead ends”.  The “dip” is the wall we hit when we lose some of our enthusiasm on our journey to succeed.   If you have too many things that you are trying to succeed in, you spread yourself too thin and your chances of success become diluted.  So, decide “the right dip for the right reasons” and stay focused and concentrate your energy.

In my practice, I administer an assessment called the Print Survey.  The assessment is a DNA of your personality.  Everyone says the same about it.  It is amazing how your true self is idenified by this 25 minute quiz.  One of my strong characteristics, which was revealed in this assessment, is ”relentless determination”.  As is pointed out in the results of the assessment, your strong characteristics can also be your shadow or “needs work” characteristics.  Relentless determination, what does that really mean?  It means I do not know how to quit and am pretty much driven to succeed.

Is that a good thing?  I always thought it was.  Because I was a manager for many years and am also a motivational speaker, I know all the inspirational quotes and phrases by all the greats, Vince Lombardi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Einstein, Buddha, etc.  “Quitters never win and winners never quit”, “Never, never, never give up”.  No, no says Seth Godin, ”winners do quit and quitters do win”.  The secret is to learn quickly when you need to quit and go on to something else that you can be successful at.   As I go through life and look back on some of the “determination” I have displayed, I now wonder if I should have learned the fine art of quitting.

Well, I was so interested in this idea of quitting, it is so counter to everything I have ever studied, that I went out and bought the book.  I will continue this blog when I finish reading it.

What are your thoughts on quitting?  How do you make decisions to tackle a challenge or quit?  Have you read the book?  I would love to hear from you.