Seth Godin has a book called The Dip. It’s all about quitting and when you should quit and when you shouldn’t.
It’s simple advice.
Before you start you need to understand that there is a place where it’s predictable to quit. Don’t quit there. It’s hard to execute.
People who’s New Years resolution is to lose weight quit before February. Or they start in February but don’t make it to March. Either way if they would just decide to do it until April, they would make it through the dip, that predictable quitting place.
The dip can last a month, or it can last 8 years.
And it is where things get hard.
The dip is where you want to give up because you don’t know the path.
It is the part of the journey where you have come to the end of yourself, the excitement of starting has faded, and the results haven’t shown up yet.
It’s dark in the dip, and that’s why it’s the spot everyone quits. It’s understandable to quit there. It’s totally justified. It seems crazy to push through it.
Making it through takes serious resilience because the dip is where you face your demons…all of the questions, thoughts, and doubts wreak havoc in your mind and torment you. It feels like there isn’t another side.
I read about it and thought, ok that makes sense…easy peasy.
I was wrong. The dip is never easy and until you are in the dip you don’t know what demons are going to pop up. Each new thing brings different demons and more respect for the dip.
Knowing that it exists helps. A lot.
It gives you hope that things will get better, that there is light on the other side of darkness.
It helps you keep going when it’s hard and all you want to do it quit.
If you’re in the dip right now, keep going… it’s not easy, but it’s worth it.