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Book Review The Dip by Seth Godin🌴J&M Reviews🌴

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The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) Hardcover – May 10, 2007

by Seth Godin (Author)

6,617 ratings

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A New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller

In this iconic bestseller, popular business blogger and bestselling author Seth Godin proves that winners are really just the best quitters. Godin shows that winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt—until they commit to beating the right Dip.

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out fun…then gets really hard, and not much fun at all. You might be in a Dip—a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac—a total dead end. What really sets superstars apart is the ability to tell the two apart.

Winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can beat the Dip to be the best, you’ll earn profits, glory, and long-term security.
Whether you’re an intern or a CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you’re in a Dip that’s worthy of your time, effort, and talents. The old saying is wrong—winners do quit, and quitters do win.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yet another easily digestible social marketplace commentary from the blogger/author who penned Purple Cow and Small is the New Big, Godin prescribes a cleverly counter-intuitive way to approach one's potential for success. Smart, honest, and refreshingly free of self-help posturing, this primer on winning-through-quitting is at once motivational and comically indifferent, making the lofty goal of "becoming the best in the world" an achievable proposition-all you need is to "start doing some quitting." The secret to "strategic quitting" is seeking, understanding and embracing "the Dip," "the long slog between starting and mastery" in which those without the determination or will find themselves burning out. As such, Godin demonstrates how to identify and quit your "Cul-de-Sac" and "Cliff" situations, in which no amount of work will lead to success. Godin provides tips for finding your Dip, taking advantage of it and becoming one of the few (inevitably valuable) players to emerge on the other side; he also provides guidelines for quitting with confidence. Quick, hilarious and happily irreverent, Godin's truth-that "we fail when we get distracted by tasks we don't have the guts to quit"-makes excellent sense of an often-difficult career move.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A short read that should be on every entrepreneur's book list."—Entrepreneur.com

"Absolutely delightful, combining his wise aphorisms and anecdotes with Hugh MacLeod's darkly brilliant business-card cartoons."—Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Portfolio
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 10, 2007
Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591841666
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591841661
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.53 x 7.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #12,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #101 in Business Motivation & Self-Improvement (Books)
- #147 in Motivational Management & Leadership
- #173 in Success Self-Help

Customer Reviews:
6,617 ratings

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Seth Godin

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Seth Godin is the author of 20 international bestsellers that have been translated into over 38 languages, and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. For a long time, Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.

He worked as a year as the volunteer founding editor of The Carbon Almanac, and his recent bestsellers also include The Practice and This is Marketing.

He's a recent inductee to the Marketing Hall of Fame, and also a member of the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame and (go figure), the Guerrilla Marketing Hall of Fame.

His book, Tribes, was a nationwide bestseller, appearing on the Amazon, New York Times, BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. It's about the most powerful form of marketing--leadership--and how anyone can now become a leader, creating movements that matter.

His book Linchpin came out in 2008 and was the fastest-selling book of his career. Linchpin challenges you to stand up, do work that matters and race to the top instead of the bottom. More than that, though, the book outlines a massive change in our economy, a fundamental shift in what it means to have a job.

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth was founder and CEO of Squidoo.com,. His blog (find it by typing "seth" into Google) is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne.

He's known as a pioneer in online education, and was the founder of the altMBA.

You can find every single possible detail that anyone could ever want to know at sethgodin.com

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6,617 global ratings

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Customers find this book to be a great quick read that's short and to the point, with effective information and a compelling argument for strategic quitting. The writing style receives mixed feedback, with some praising it as a masterpiece while others criticize the poor writing and organization. While customers appreciate the book's readability and value for money, they express concerns about its credibility, noting that it lacks concrete examples.

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Readability Insight Shortness Ease of use Quitting strategy Value for money Writing style Credibility

314 customers mention "Readability"297 positive17 negative

Customers find the book easy to read, describing it as a quick little read.

"A nice book with an important concept of reason. Very obvious in some eras but still very recommended. Very nice overall." Read more

"A short read, but a very powerful read. Anything by Seth Godin has always turned out to be a treasure and in some aspect a life changer for me...." Read more

"This is short and sweet and advice I wish I had about 20 years ago. Going through this won't take you long but the wisdom is phenomenal...." Read more

"...book was recommended to me by a work colleague, and it's a short, quick read...." Read more

266 customers mention "Insight"234 positive32 negative

Customers find the book insightful, praising its piles of wisdom and effective information, with one customer noting how it provides a framework for evaluating hard decisions.

"A nice book with an important concept of reason. Very obvious in some eras but still very recommended. Very nice overall." Read more

"...Going through this won't take you long but the wisdom is phenomenal...." Read more

"...Most of this book is encouragement to not stop, using rhetoric such as anecdotes and hyperbole...." Read more

"I found this book interesting, and helpful, but it was simplistic for those who need more depth in how to either move on--or never give up, in..." Read more

98 customers mention "Shortness"73 positive25 negative

Customers appreciate that the book is short and to the point, with a perfect length that keeps attention, and one customer notes it is only 80 pages long.

"This is short and sweet and advice I wish I had about 20 years ago. Going through this won't take you long but the wisdom is phenomenal...." Read more

"This book was recommended to me by a work colleague, and it's a short, quick read...." Read more

""The Dip" by Seth Godin is a short book with a message that resonates close to the issue of the "honeymoon period" that many people have with..." Read more

"Not as good as I expected. Very short, multiple stories to persuade you that there is a dip in everything...." Read more

74 customers mention "Ease of use"56 positive18 negative

Customers find the book simple and easy to understand, with one customer noting it explains how not to waste time.

"...This idea seems so simple and yet I keep going back to it. I think it goes much deeper once you move past the surface of simply a definition...." Read more

"...of reviewers are critical of this book for the very reason that it's simple and general in nature...." Read more

"...The heart of this book is simple: Everything gets hard eventually. Some things are worth persevering through. Other things should be quit...." Read more

"...fake math graphs - no numerical data on the x and y axis, no explanation of the research that informed the graphs...." Read more

27 customers mention "Quitting strategy"27 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's approach to quitting, finding it compelling and well-supported with examples.

"...1. Never quitting is bad advice. Right from the start he argues one of the most common ideas quoted time and time again...." Read more

"Seth delivers a compelling argument for strategic quitting...." Read more

"...Its OK to Quit!! Thank You Seth?" Read more

"...The subtitle is about strategic quitting. Often our failures are in how we defined the boundaries of our goal - too small or too large...." Read more

25 customers mention "Value for money"21 positive4 negative

Customers find the book worth the price, with one mentioning it saves time and money, and another noting that the audio version was just a few dollars extra.

"...the book wasn't expensive and it doesn't take too much of your time to finish, so there isn't much lost in reading the book, but i've read other..." Read more

"Seth Godin is an excellent author. The book is priced right and was delivered as promised." Read more

"...of going back to entrepreneurship, I can gladly say, this was worth every second. I loved it!..." Read more

"...But once I'm done, I remember why they're so short. And why they're worth it...." Read more

45 customers mention "Writing style"20 positive25 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style of the book, with some praising it as a masterpiece from Seth Godin and finding it witty, while others criticize the poor writing and organization.

"...Also, I was put off by the book's voice and style. The author uses a lot of hyperbole, along the lines of: if you're not number one, then you fail!..." Read more

"Read this book at one sitting. It reads effortlessly, is light, witty, entertaining, funny and quite profound...." Read more

"...I feel like the text danced around these concepts, and I took away mixed messages." Read more

"This is a book worth reading. There are some memorable lines that will be used by the reader going forward. Start reading…don’t quit." Read more

22 customers mention "Credibility"4 positive18 negative

Customers find the book's credibility lacking, with multiple reviews noting the absence of concrete examples and expert sources to back the material presented.

"...I have with this book (and others like it) is that much of the advice is anecdotal and cherry-picked to fit the narrative...." Read more

"...One of the major critiques of The Dip is that Seth does not provide concrete examples...." Read more

"...The advice can be very direct but with majority of folks "sticking it out," it's probably what one needs to hear at that time...." Read more

"...book addresses both situations but becomes repetitive and is short on concrete examples." Read more

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Elas
Nice book
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2025
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A nice book with an important concept of reason.
Very obvious in some eras but still very recommended.
Very nice overall.

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A. Maurer
Time for a dip?
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2015
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A short read, but a very powerful read. Anything by Seth Godin has always turned out to be a treasure and in some aspect a life changer for me. I recently read another of his books The Dip which really gave a me a lot to think about. As always, I have purchased almost every single Seth Godin book and they are books that will never be discarded because they are the few books I read over and over.

Seth Godin takes on the topic of quitting and places the whole idea into a whole new perspective. There is always talk about failure and quitting on social media and in particular education. This book challenges many of the common ideas often discussed. Here are some of the key ideas that stood out to me in no particular order that will hopefully inspire you to read the book for yourself and provide some ideas for you to think about.

1. Never quitting is bad advice. Right from the start he argues one of the most common ideas quoted time and time again. He says that the quote from Vince Lombardi, “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” is bad advice. Instead he claims that winners “quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.”

2. Zipf’s Law – This law is mentioned in the book so I had to look it up on wikipedia. I am instantly fascinated by this concept where we basically love winners. Not just winners, but the whole idea that frequency is key. When something wins it usually wins big. Think about the popular records, box office, tv shows, books, etc. The top of the top sell more than anyone else. You could be 2nd or third, but end up way behind. Now that I aware of this law I start to notice it time and time again.

3. Well Rounded is Bad Advice – Anytime education is challenged my ears perk up. Seth states, “Just about everything you learned in school about life is wrong, but the wrongest thing might very well be this: Being well rounded is the secret to success.” I have to agree 100%. I shared this graphic a few posts back and also here specifically about this topic so reading this book after further cemented my beliefs.

Who are You-

4. The Cul-De-Sac

I love this thought. I really do. And I think it is the state of education. Basically it means a “situation where you work and you work and nothing much changes. It doesn’t get a lot better, it doesn’t get a lot worse. It just is.” Not only is this happening in education, but it happens in our own personal lives. This idea seems so simple and yet I keep going back to it. I think it goes much deeper once you move past the surface of simply a definition. Sometimes we have to get on the highway….(my new idea developing from this neighborhood metaphor)

5. I think that the reason many live in a cul-de-sac is because it is easy to be mediocre. It is easy to blend in. Quitting is hard because you must admit that you are not number one. This is tough for many of us. We don’t like to admit these type of things so we will continue to do things just so we are not quitters. Our society has pushed our thinking to believe that quitting is bad.

6. The key to quitting is understanding The Dip. We must learn when to quit. We don’t want to quit at the wrong time. We have to realize that the systems in place want us to quit. They operate on us quitting. If we can push past the dip and not quit, then we hit the results of being number one. We breakthrough and hit new levels of success that cannot we believe we can achieve. What is the dip? Well, read the book!

7. The one idea that makes sense, but I struggle with agreeing with is if we are going to quit we must quit before we start. If we cannot be the best in the world he suggests we don’t even try. I don’t know how I feel about that. I think we have to shoot for the stars sometimes. Perhaps I must define what it means to be the best in the world. Does this mean I must be an Olympian in running? No, I think he is going after something much grander in concept, but it is important to at least think about the message. When thinking about quitting we have to think about…….

8. Two Choices – Don’t be average. If you find yourself being average you must make a decision. Either you quit or be exceptional. “Average is for losers”. This is a tough pill to swallow, but a necessary one. I think about my life and things that I want to fix. If I quit the things that are just average in my life due to average work and commitment I could really push some elements to be exceptional by freeing up time and energy spent on doing things average in my life in the cul-de-sac. This idea is one that has hit home with me and is really forcing me to think through things deeply.

Those are just a few ideas that really stood out to me when I finished the book. I have many more passages highlighted, but if I shared everything then what would be the point to read the book? This book packs a lot in 80 pages, but that is what Seth Godin does.

If you are interested in his other books here are the others I have read and recommend.

My favorite book of his so far. I have read this one many times! Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin http://amzn.to/1IxiiLK

Oh man, this one is so good also! Purple Cow by Seth Godin http://amzn.to/1IxilYa

Poke the Box by Seth Godin http://amzn.to/1JFluKL

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Some Guy
Very Valuable
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2025
Verified Purchase
This is short and sweet and advice I wish I had about 20 years ago. Going through this won't take you long but the wisdom is phenomenal. While I don't agree with every single word of it, there is still a ton of value here in a small package.

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Amazon Customer
Some good information, but limited and hyperbolic
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book was recommended to me by a work colleague, and it's a short, quick read. The main point of the book seems to me to circle around an idea that is common sense: when people approach a task - marketing a new product, picking up a new skill, and so on - they need to persevere through the dip. The dip is that period of time when the work involved feels difficult and overwhelming, and the temptation to quit becomes pressing. The author contends that the difference between people who succeed, and those who fail, can be traced back to whether or not they pushed through the dip. If they make it through that slump, then they are rewarded with the money or recognition or expertise that most other people never achieve.

The reason a lot of this felt like common sense to me was because I believe most people recognize that after the excitement of starting on a new project, there inevitably comes a time where the gloss of starting something new wears off, and we hit a slump. To me, that slump is the dip. The work feels harder, and it's easy to just stop. Most of this book is encouragement to not stop, using rhetoric such as anecdotes and hyperbole. The book also notes that the steeper the dip - the harder it is to finish, the greater the odds that are stacked against you are - the more success that awaits for those who get through it. I think all of this sounds reasonable, and matches what I've personally experienced when it comes to taking on new challenges. I also thought it was interesting that Godin provided descriptions of two other paths that might seem like a dip, but aren't: the cul-de-sac and the cliff. The cul-de-sac describes work that will never go anywhere no matter how hard people work, and the cliff describes work that seems to be going well before it abruptly collapses in failure.

It's important to recognize that these other scenarios exist, because it's naive to believe that if things aren't going well, it's just the dip, and if you work hard enough you'll eventually succeed. However, very little time is devoted to how people can distinguish between the dip, a cul-de-sac, or a cliff. Considering that the main advice of this book is to keep going when things get tough, I would have appreciated much more explanation of how to tell if I actually am in the dip, or if my hard work isn't going to go anywhere after all. Also, I was put off by the book's voice and style. The author uses a lot of hyperbole, along the lines of: if you're not number one, then you fail! If you're not a winner, you're a loser! This kind of pep talk does not motivate me; on the contrary, it actually distances me from the message. Also, the book incorporates fake math graphs - no numerical data on the x and y axis, no explanation of the research that informed the graphs. In fact, at one point, the book declares that if someone were to create a graph about a certain subject, it would probably look like ... Basically, the graphs are just made up based on how the writer thinks they should look, and that kind of nonsense data bothers me. If you don't have actual numbers, use a different kind of visual device. To sum up, I agreed with the book's main premise, but I wanted it be more fully explained in a more objective manner, and I find the style of the book jarring.

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Edu
Corto pero muy útil
Reviewed in Spain on December 9, 2019
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Es más corto de lo que esperaba pero tiene información muy valiosa para ese momento en el que parece que estás estancado en tu negocio. Si tienes dudas de qué hacer cuando pasa el furor del lanzamiento de un producto o negocio, este libro puede ayudarte a salir de dudas.

Aprecio mucho el formato corto y directo al grano. La mayoría de los libros se empeñan en dar mil vueltas a los mismos temas para alargar el contenido.

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Matteo
Breve ed utile
Reviewed in Italy on September 21, 2024
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Il titolo può ingannare, questo libro ti insegna a distinguere quello che conta da ciò invece che può farti solo perdere tempo.

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Guilherme Carvalho
Lendo sem saber inglês
Reviewed in Brazil on April 2, 2024
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Comprei alguns livros em inglês para praticar e este esta sendo ótimo livro para esta finalidade. A linguagem é simples então consigo compreende-lo bem, é um livro curto e direto. O conteúdo é excelente. Valeu muito a pena.

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Frank Aguilera
Rapido de leer, directo al grano
Reviewed in Mexico on February 9, 2024
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Es un libro muy rapido de leer, es delgado. Va directo al grano, literal habla sobre lo cuando debes renunciar a algo y cuando no. Me gusto que no da tantas vueltas a las cosas, directo a la idea.

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Neha sharma
Must Read for people taking road less travelled
Reviewed in India on December 15, 2024
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When I read The Dip by Seth Godin, I felt a shift in how I view challenges and decision-making. The book helped me recognize that struggles are often a natural part of achieving greatness, but not all battles are worth fighting. It had literally inspired me to focus on meaningful goals, quit distractions, and strive for excellence where it truly counts.

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Neha sharma

Must Read for people taking road less travelled

Reviewed in India on December 15, 2024
When I read The Dip by Seth Godin, I felt a shift in how I view challenges and decision-making. The book helped me recognize that struggles are often a natural part of achieving greatness, but not all battles are worth fighting. It had literally inspired me to focus on meaningful goals, quit distractions, and strive for excellence where it truly counts.

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The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) Hardcover – May 10, 2007

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5.0 out of 5 stars Nice book

4.0 out of 5 stars Time for a dip?

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Valuable

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good information, but limited and hyperbolic

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Corto pero muy útil

5.0 out of 5 stars Breve ed utile

5.0 out of 5 stars Lendo sem saber inglês

5.0 out of 5 stars Rapido de leer, directo al grano

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for people taking road less travelled

Must Read for people taking road less travelled

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Nice book

Time for a dip?

Very Valuable

Some good information, but limited and hyperbolic

Corto pero muy útil

Breve ed utile

Lendo sem saber inglês

Rapido de leer, directo al grano

Must Read for people taking road less travelled