“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 will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

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.

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.” [Squidoo]

I don’t blame Mr. Godin for wanting to make a buck, but this little “book” (about 70 tiny pages) should have been an eBook. Which I probably would not have bought, so… there you go.

But it brought back some memories.

It only took me about 3 months (in 1970) to decide I did not want to be a lawyer. I quit and I quit early. I then spent about a year as a Postal Inspector before calling it quits. I remember my boss urging me to stick it out.

I’m a Seth fan and found The Dip worth the hour it took to read. A few quotes after the jump.

“If you’re going to quit, quit before you start. Reject the system. Don’t play the game if you realize you can’t be the best in the world.” pg.43

“The next time you catch yourself being average when you feel like quitting, realize that you only have two good choices: Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers. … Average feels safe, but it’s not. It’s invisible. It’s the last choice — the path of least resistance. The temptation to be average is just another kind of quitting… the kind to be avoided.” pg.44

“I don’t think the best salespeople are the ones who are always in your face, always asking for the order, always pushing. Selling is about a transference of emotion, not a presentation of facts. If it were just a presentation of facts, the a PDF flyer or a Web site would be sufficient to make the phone ring.” pg.47

“Quitting is better than coping because quitting frees you up to excel at something else.” pg.64