“The Dip” is a concept developed by author Seth Godin in his book of the same name . A Dip is the place where most people give up. In anything worth doing there is likely to be a Dip.
Why? According to Godin the Dip creates scarcity, and scarcity creates value. This is because most people aren’t able to push through the Dip, and instead give up. This is true for writing a book, exercising, eating healthy, engaging in spiritual disciplines, starting a new ministry, etc. If it were easy, if there were no Dip, then everybody would do it. When you begin something new, you are likely to have a lot of energy, enthusiasm and motivation. And, as I noted in a previous video, early progress helps to amplify this. But you will reach a point where the results don’t seem to be improving as quickly as they did in the early phase. This is when the Dip occurs. When you hit the Dip it’s important to remind yourself about why you began in the first place. If you started because you believed God could do something exceptional through you, then don’t let the Dip stop you. I’ve completed several marathons and each time I hit the proverbial “wall” at about mile 22 of 26. At this point, I felt like I couldn’t go on. My legs were cramping and my motivation was sapped. How did I finish, by focusing on one step at a time. When you are doing something important and reach the Dip, don’t think about how far you have to go. Think about doing one thing to move you closer to your goal. I’ve written several books and the dip occurred when I finished the first draft. I didn’t feel like proofreading and editing, let alone doing it several times. To keep going, I would print the manuscript and set a goal of reading one chapter. And then the next, and then the next. One step at a time. Just knowing about the Dip will help you when you are trying to do your most important work. Staying focused on next steps will get you through it; something most people don’t do. Comments are closed.
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lessons
April 2024
New lessons are posted on Mondays.
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