Are You Getting Over the Dip? The Power of Persistence

What is the Dip?

It is the fifth job interview there they never even call you back.

It is the garage band playing to an empty club in the middle of nowhere.

It is the seventh time you fall on your but while learning to snowboard.

It is any rough patch you have to get through before achieving your big goal… if in fact you're chasing the right goal.

Seth says :

Almost everything in life worth doing is controlled by the Dip.

At the beginning, when you start something, it is fun.

You could be learning a new skill, a new subject, ahoy – it is interesting and you get plenty of good feedback and praises.

At the beginning the rapid learning you experience keep you going. Whatever, it is easy to stay engaged in it

And the Dip happens…

Here's a quote from Seth's blog:

"Joyrides are things you do just for the fun of it, without caring if you're getting anywhere. Seth himself said (roughly) that "if you play the flute just because you enjoy it, not because you're trying to make a living as a flautist, then The Dip doesn't matter." It is worth noting that for some people college is Joyride, not a Dip!

Lotteries are a particularly seductive variant of Dead End that looks like a Dip, in that we periodically see people who do make it out into the Good Life. Unlike a Dip, though, there is nothing we can do to ensure we make it through to the other side; we are at the mercy of external forces. Thus, even thought there is a non-zero chance we might win the Lottery, for most of us it really is a Dead End, and a complete waste of our potential for greatness. This is particularly true for Talent- (rather than Skill-) based disciplines, where the Lottery took place before we were born.

Quests, on the other hand, are Dips that look like Dead Ends. Seth encourages us to pursue Dips where we can make measurable progress towards a well-defined goal. However, he admits that this doesn't apply to things like cutting-edge scientific research, where there there are no guarantees or guidelines.."

Call it what you may, stick-to-it-tiveness, persistence, never giving up, pushing beyond , second wind, the Dip… they all have about the same concept.

It is the difference between an amateur and the professional.

It is the difference between beginner's luck and real accomplishment.

Here's what Seth has to say:

Successful people don't just ride out the Dip. They push harder, changing the rules as they go. Just because you know you're in the Dip doesn't mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don't last quite as long when you whittle at them.

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. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you'll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

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.

Strange as it may, I see can see a similarity in the pain and labor of giving birth.

Push.

Persist.

Don't let the head be stuck where it should not.

It has to come out.

And a new life, a new breath, a new momentum… begins.

technorati tags: the Dip, persistence, never give up, seth godin