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- Date Read: 2025-03-11
- Rating: 7/10
Summary
This book is a quick and easy read, thanks to its short length. It dives into the idea of when to quit and when to stick with something. Even though it’s a fast read, it can leave you thinking long after you’ve finished.
My Notes
We’ve all heard that saying, “quitters never win and winners never quit” .
But Godin challenges this, arguing:
“Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.”
This short but powerful book explores when to push through tough times and when quitting is the smartest move you can make. It’s not about stubbornly sticking to everything; it’s about being smart and strategic with our choices.
The Two Curves: The Dip and The Cul-de-Sac
Godin explains that most challenges fall into one of two curves:
- The Dip: This is the long, painful stretch between starting something and achieving mastery.
“The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that’s actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path.”
This is where people give up — but the scarcity created by the Dip is precisely what makes success valuable. Pushing through the Dip is what separates the mediocre from the exceptional.
- The Cul-de-Sac: A dead end where no amount of effort leads to significant improvement.
“It doesn’t get a lot better, it doesn’t get a lot worse. It just is. That’s why they call those jobs dead-end jobs.”
If you’re in a Cul-de-Sac, quitting isn’t just an option — it’s the best move. The opportunity cost of staying in a dead end is too high.
Scarcity Creates Value : Why the Dip Matters
If It Is Worth Doing, There’s Probably a Dip Tennis has a Dip. The difference between a mediocre club player and a regional champion isn’t inborn talent—it’s the ability to push through the moments where it’s just easier to quit. Politics has a Dip as well—it’s way more fun to win an election than to lose one, and the entire process is built around many people starting while most people quit.
Godin emphasizes that the Dip creates scarcity, and scarcity creates value. People want what’s rare, whether that’s a six-pack of abs or the best freelance editor in town:
Every time Men’s Health puts a picture of a guy with washboard abs on their cover, newsstand sales go up. Why? Well, if everyone had washboard abs, it’s unlikely that men would buy a magazine that teaches them how to get that physique. The very scarcity of this attribute makes it attractive.
If you can push through the Dip, you become part of the rare few who make it — and that rarity makes you valuable.
Anyone who is going to hire you, buy from you, recommend you, vote for you, or do what you want them to do is going to wonder if you’re the best choice. Best as in: best for them, right now, based on what they believe and what they know. And in the world as in: their world, the world they have access to.
So if I’m looking for a freelance copy editor, I want the best copy editor in English, who’s available, who can find a way to work with me at a price I can afford. That’s my best in the world. If I want a hernia doctor, I want the doctor who is best because she’s recommended by my friends or colleagues and because she fits my picture of what a great doctor is. That, and she has to be in my town and have a slot open. So world is a pretty flexible term.
In a free market, we reward the exceptional.
The Wrong Reasons to Quit
Quitting isn’t inherently bad, but quitting in the Dip wastes the time and energy you’ve already invested:
It’s human nature to quit when it hurts. But it’s that reflex that creates scarcity. The challenge is simple: Quitting when you hit the Dip is a bad idea. If the journey you started was worth doing, then quitting when you hit the Dip just wastes the time you’ve already invested. Quit in the Dip often enough and you’ll find yourself becoming a serial quitter, starting many things but accomplishing little. Simple: If you can’t make it through the Dip, don’t start. If you can embrace that simple rule, you’ll be a lot choosier about which journeys you start.
Godin outlines seven common reasons people fail to become the best:
- Running out of time or money
- You get scared
- You are not serious about it
- You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre
- You focus on the short term instead of the long (and quit when the short term gets too hard)
- You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent).
It’s important to know these traps to decide whether to keep going or quit
Deciding When to Quit
One of the most practical pieces of advice in The Dip is to decide your quitting point before you start:
Here’s a quote from ultramarathoner Dick Collins: 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 sleepy, 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 that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.
“Before you enter a new market, consider what would happen if you managed to get through the Dip and win in the market you’re already in.”
Quitting in a panic is dangerous — make rational decisions, not emotional ones. And always ask yourself:
- Am I panicking? Decisions made in panic are rarely the best ones. Wait until you’re calm to make a choice.
- What measurable progress am I making? If there’s no forward movement, it might be time to reassess.
- If I quit this, will it free up energy to push through a more meaningful Dip?
The Power of Persistence
The Dip teaches us that success isn’t just about sticking things out; it’s about leaning into the struggle, pushing harder, and changing the rules if necessary:
“Successful people don’t just ride out the Dip. They don’t just buckle down and survive it. No, they lean into the Dip.”
By distinguishing between Dips and dead ends, and by choosing your battles wisely, you can channel your effort into pursuits where you truly have the potential to become the best in the world.
Final Thoughts : Be the Best in Your World
In the end, The Dip is a guide to strategic quitting. As Godin puts it:
“We succeed when we do something remarkable. We fail when we give up too soon.”
Godin encourages us to aim to be the best in our world—not necessarily the entire world, but in the specific context that matters to us. This means focusing our efforts where we can truly shine and not spreading ourselves too thin.
The Dip reminds us that quitting isn’t failing — it’s about choosing what matters most. When we know whether to keep going or let go, we can focus our energy on what brings us the most success and happiness.
So, ask yourself: Are you in a Dip, or a dead end?
Knowing the difference might just change everything.
Favorite Quotes
“All our successes are the same. All our failures, too. We succeed when we do something remarkable. We fail when we give up too soon. We succeed when we are the best in the world at what we do. We fail when we get distracted by tasks we don’t have the guts to quit.”
“It’s human nature to quit when it hurts. But it’s that reflex that creates scarcity.”
“The Dip creates scarcity; scarcity creates value.”
“The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery”
“Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.”
“The people who skip the hard questions are in the majority, but they are not in demand.”
“Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other.”
“The mass market is dying. There is no longer one best song or one best kind of coffee. Now there are a million micromarkets, but each micromarket still has a best.”