Seth Godin’s book, The Dip, talks about the power of quitting. He discusses the need to identify when to quit and when to stick when you are doing things that seem to not work. It’s a power packed 80  page book and I would highly recommend that you read it. I got a copy from my public library.

“The Dip” is the long steep climb from beginner status to mastery. Seth contends that there really is no way to succeed reliably unless you are top of field. Even if you have a tiny, specific niche that only a few hundred people participate in, you must be their #1 choice for whatever it is they want. It’s about satisfying the client within their world view, within their specifications, within their needs. It’s not the whole world you need to please. You are not competing with all other business people. Rather, you need to satisfy the world of your client competing against the people who do the same thing you do for that niche. That’s all.

Regardless of your devotion or luck in life, you will face the Dip and you need to decide ahead of time how you will persevere through it. These are the times you will study, you will practice, you will fail, yet you will keep going on to mastery. These are times you won’t quit. This Dip is what you need to plan to face, and you shouldn’t even start the adventure unless you have sufficient resources, time, courage, and fortitude to get through the hard part. Few people make it through, which is why the people who do get paid so well. It’s a rarity and scarcity always makes for high reward.

Seth warns that using quitting inappropriately isn’t smart though. Don’t quit every time you have to face the Dip otherwise you’ll always be quitting at the very time you should be forging ahead. You will end up always quitting and never succeeding. Like a woodpecker that taps 20 times on 1000 trees instead of 20000 times on one tree, you will not get dinner. You’ll get tired and discouraged. You will quit.

So, let’s think about our businesses – what are you doing now that you should quit? This would include addictive behaviors that are only harder to quit the longer you do them (like smoking) and dead end pursuits, things that will never get better no matter how long you do them (like trying to change your abusive spouse). Dig deep into your daily activities, both mental and physical, and examine what you do. Is there something you could stop doing that would give you more time to become excellent at your business? How about your bookkeeping or your web programming? Are you struggling with that because you are unwilling to quit even though you are probably already as good as you will get no matter how much more time you spent at it (and that “good” is totally mediocre)? These activities are wasting your time and keeping you from being truly phenomenal. Quit them. Figure out a way, today, now. Being a quitter could be the best thing you do for your business.

What about the things you want to quit but shouldn’t? For example, is salesmanship something you could be brilliant at but you don’t study or practice it? Could you become a millionaire if you simply devoted sufficient time to getting amazing at sales? Time to get going! Understanding the reward, the ultimate payoff, and embracing the Dip on your way to the reward, will make it easier.

Being excellent takes effort and you have to push through the hard stuff, you have to conquer The Dip. But you have to push through the right hard stuff, the things that will enable you to be truly excellent, not just cause you to spend more time being ok. It can be tricky, I admit, to sort these out, but ignoring it won’t get the work done. You have to be willing to examine what you do and throw away the so-so stuff and grab the super great stuff with gusto. Stephen Covey says it like this – You have to be willing to sacrifice the good for the great.

Decide today that you will no longer settle for mediocre. Whatever you do, be excellent. If you can’t commit to that, don’t start that project. No one pays for just ok and it’s simply not that fun to just be ok. Anything worth doing is worth doing right, so hold your head high as you travel through the Dip and keep going. You are on your way to success!

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

This week I was lucky enough to speak with Jim Canterucci, a Personal Brilliance coach, about my desire to become a paid public speaker. He gave me some very interesting and helpful tips on how to do it, but his opening advice struck me as most poignant. He said the secret to becoming a well-paid professional speaker is to be great at it.

At first glance, that seems obvious, right?  But, how often do we work toward something without this basic tenet at the forefront of our minds? We look at facts, we practice processes, we collect data, we research the how-to, but how much energy is actually exerted toward true greatness?

His advice really struck me as important, so greatness is my goal as I go about becoming a paid speaker. I will keep it in mind as I do all the other things, the nitty gritty, to market myself, get myself speaking gigs, etc. I will use the idea of greatness as my litmus test for whatever I choose to do next. And, I believe it will benefit me in ways that nothing else can. I am committed to devoting the time to develop greatness.

What about you? How much time this day, week, or month are you going to devote to being great at what you do? How much time did you devote to it last month? If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you probably got caught up in the business of running your business instead of taking the time to focus on being great at what you do. Don’t be hard on yourself – just resolve to shift that a bit.

How can you develop greatness? I’d recommend that you go visit Jim’s Personal Brilliance website for starters. He provides tips on how to use your personal brilliance to conquer any challenge. After my experience visiting with Jim, I have signed up for his updates. I find them valuable and I look forward to their positive impact on my progress.

Also, study your craft. For me, I will be studying the greatest speakers of all time to see what they do. I will practice, emulating the best of the best while developing my own strong message and style. Studying people who are great at what you want to be great at does not mean becoming a parrot or robot. Instead it’s about observing what works and using that as your launching pad. You are unique and that’s the greatest gift you have to offer the world, as no one else can give that. 

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, allow yourself the mental and emotional permission to admit your greatness. We are often taught that knowing our value is arrogance, that claiming our greatness is a mistake. False humility does no one any good. Thinking you’re great when you’re not, that’s arrogance. Actually being great (and knowing it) is your responsibility to yourself, your family, and the world. You weren’t put on this earth to be mediocre. No one was. Don’t feign commonness to fit it. Great leaders don’t fit in – they stick out and rise above to inspire and motivate others. Each of us are leaders in our craft, in our own way, so it’s time we acted so. Today is as good a day as any to start.

Go out and be great today. Focus your attention on the idea of greatness in your work, in the value you give your client, the contribution you make to your society. Become really good at it. Practice, learn, and then be it. I look forward to standing next to you and your greatness.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman
follow Jim Canterucci on Twitter: Canterucci