With all of the books I have read over the past several years, I find that I have been talking about one I read many years ago a lot.  It’s a book by Seth Godin called “The Dip.”    

This short but powerful book starts with a simple premise.  Whenever you start a new hobby, job, business (or whatever) your knowledge and excitement go up fast initially.  It’s new and exciting.  You are learning and getting better every day.  The trajectory of your knowledge and enthusiasm for the project is solidly up.

Then, after time, you start to understand.  You get better at the job.  You become proficient at the hobby.  Your improvement starts to slow down and it gets less exciting.  The enthusiasm starts to taper off too.

Then comes “The Dip.”

This is the time that your enthusiasm goes down because you are not seeing significant improvements every day.  You might be improving but it’s hard to tell.  The routine you have worked to create starts to feel like a rut.  Your new job, workout routine, business or hobby are not fun anymore.  They become a grind. As Godin so brilliantly points out, this is when most people quit.

On the other hand, those that stick to it through “the dip” are the ones who become experts in their respective fields.  Those that “lean into the Dip” become the experts that we idolize in the area. I think I have been talking about this book because it’s such a true metaphor for nearly any new adventure.  If you are starting a workout plan, this is the 3rd or 4th week.  You are sore…but not seeing the 6 pack abs.  If you are in sales, this is when you have had a good start, but the phone has not been ringing.  This is the business that is doing okay, but not lighting the world on fire…yet. You are in “the Dip.”

And the Dip is the wrong time to quit.  Lean in.  Keep grinding.   No one said it would be easy.  They said it would be worth it.

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Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing, a full-service marketing agency located in Ohio.  Learn more about Hasseman Marketing here.  And if you are interested in having him speak at your next event, you can learn more here.