세스 고딘의 책을 더 읽어보려 둘러보던 중, 책의 부제를 보고 당장 해외구매해서 읽은 책.
A LITTLE BOOK THAT TEACHES YOU WHEN TO QUIT
(AND WHEN TO STICK)
부제에서 알려주고 있는 것처럼, 이 책은 '포기'에 대해 다루고 있다.
중상정도는 되는 고등교육을 받았고, 평범한 일반 부모 아래에서 자란 나는 '그만둔다'는 것에 대해 상당히 부정적인 인식을 갖고 있었다. 실제로는 그만두고 포기하는 과정이 일상생활에서 지극히 자연스러운 일인데도 말이다.
저자는 '포기하는 것'을 '포기하지 않을 것'에 대한 헌신이라 말한다. 중간에 포기하지 않고 최고의 경지에 이를 수 있는 자신감과 상황이 받쳐주지 않는 일이라면, 최대한 신속하게 포기하는 것이 현명하다고 말이다. 하지만 반면에 '포기하지 않을 것'에 대해서는 아무리 지루하고 능률이 오르지 않는 것 같아도 끝까지 버티고 기다려야 희소성이 생긴다. 결국 최고를 가리는 시스템은 사람들이 '중간에 포기하도록(혹은 다른 것에 눈을 돌리도록)' 만들어졌기 때문에. 물론 그냥저냥 버티는 것을 의미하는 것은 아니다. 오히려 세스 고딘은 '성공으로 가는 슬럼프(The Dip)' 기간에 기존의 업무나 태도, 체제 등에 도전장을 내밀어 극복하는 것이 진정으로 '견디는' 것이라고 본다.
물론 자신이 처한 지루하고 반복적인 일상이 얼른 벗어나야 하는 '막다른 길(Cul-de-Sac)'인지 '성공으로 가는 슬럼프(The Dip)'인지 파악하는 것은 개인 판단의 몫이다. 중요한 것은 판단이 일단 선다면 포기를 하든지, 어떻게든 자신의 방향성을 추구하든지 하는 배짱을 가져야 한다는 것이다.
어떤 일이든 그만뒀다는 데에서 오는 상처가 남는 법인데, 잘 아물 수 있게 도와준, 의학적인 효능이 있는 책이다.
11
The Best in the World - Best is subjective. I (the consumer) get to decide, not you. World is selfish. It's my deifinition, not yours. It's the world I define, based on my convenience or my preferences. Be the best in my world and you have me, at a premium, right now.
14
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.
17
The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that's actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path.
The Dip is the combination of bureaucracy and busy work you must deal with in order to get certified in scuba diving.
The Dip is the difference between the easy "beginner" technique and the more useful "expert" approach in skiing or fashion design.
The Dip is the long stretch between beginner's luck and real accomplishment.
24
The brave thing to do is to tough it out and end up on the other side - getting all the benefits that come from scarcity. The mature thing is not even to bother starting to snowboard because you're probably not going to make it through the Dip. And the stupid thing to do is to start, give it your best shot, waste a lot of time and money, and quit right in the middle of the Dip.
28
Hardworking, motivated people find diversification a natural outlet for their energy and drive. Diversification feels like the right thing to do. Enter a new market, apply for a job in a new area, start a new sport. Who knows? This might just be the one.
And yet the real success goes to those who obsess. The focus that leads you through the Dip to the other side is rewarded by a marketplace in search of the best in the world.
30
Quitting is difficult. Quitting requires you to acknowledge that you're never going to be #1 in the world. At least not at this. So it's easier just to put it off, not admit it, settle for mediocre.
What a waste.
The essential thing to know about the Dip is that it's there. Knowing that you're facing a Dip is the first step in getting through it.
31
The challenge is simple: Quitting when you hit the Dip is a bad idea. If the journey you started was worth doing, then quitting when you hit the Dip just wastes the time you've already invested. Quit in the Dip often enough and you'll find yourself becoming a serial quitter, starting many things but accomplishing little.
Simple: If you can't make it through the Dip, don't start.
If you can embrace that simple rule, you'll be a lot choosier about which journeys you start.
33
The Dip is actually your greatest ally because it makes the project worthwhile(and keeps others from competing with you).
But wait, that's not enough. Not only do you need to find a Dip that you can conquer but you also need to quit all the Cul-de-Sacs that you're currently idling your way through. You must quit the projects and investments and endeavors that don't offer you the same opportunity. It's difficult, but it's vitally important.
36
Whatever you do for a living, or for fun, it's probably somehow based on a system that's based on quitting. Quitting creates scarcity; scarcity creates value.
42
You grew up believing that quitting is a moral failing. Quitting feels like a go-down moment, a moment where you look yourself in the eye and blink. Of course you are trying your best. But you just can't do it. It's that whole Vince Lombardi thing. If you were just a better person, you wouldn't quit.
I'd rather have you focus on quitting(or not quitting) as a go-up opportunity. It's not about avoidng the humiliation of failure. Even more important, you can realize that quitting the stuff you don't care about or the stuff you're mediocre at or better yet quitting the Cul-de-Sacs frees up your resources to obsess about the Dips that matter.
If you're going to quit, quit before you start. Reject the system. Don't play the game if you realize you can't be the best in the world.
43
Serial Quitters Spend a Lot of Time in Line
Advertisers who are always jumping from one agency to another, or one medium to another, end up wasting a fortune. If it takes ten impressions to make an impact, and you've delivered eight, that switch is going to cost you a lot of time and money.
48
Most consumers could care less about your idea or those fancy high-heeled shoes or some cutting-edge type of glue. Instead, they wait. They wait for something to be standardized, tested, inexpensive, and ready for prime time. Hence the Dip of market acceptance. The marketers who get rewarded are the ones who don't quit.
(...) The problem is that only a tiny portion of the audience is looking for the brand-new thing. Most people are waiting for the tested, the authenticated, and the proven.
51
The market wants to see you persist. It demands a signal from you that you're serious, powerful, accepted, and safe.
The opposite of quitting is rededication. The opposite of quitting is an invigorated new strategy designed to break the problem apart.
52
When the pain gets so bad that you're ready to quit, you've set yourself up as someone with nothing to lose. And someone with nothing to lose has quite a bit of power. You can go for broke. Challenge authority. Attempt unattempted alternatives.
53
Short-term pain has more impact on most people than long-term benefits do, which is why it's so important for you to amplify the long-term benefits of not quitting.
It's easier to overcome the pain of yet another unsuccessful cold call if the reality of a successful sales career is more concrete.
55
Persistent people are able to visualize the idea of light at the end of the tunnel when others can't see it. At the same time, the smartest people are realistic about not imagining light when there isn't any.
Everyday you stay is a bad strategic decision for your career because every day you get better at something that isn't that useful - and you are another day behind others who are learning something more useful. The only reason to stay is the short-term pain associated with quitting. Winners understand that taking that pain now prevents a lot more pain later.
"Is the pain of the Dip worth the benefit of the light at the end of the tunnel?"
59
It's okay to quit, sometimes.
In fact, it's okay to quit often.
Quitting the projects that don't go anywhere is essential if you want to stick out the right ones.
60
Getting off a Cul-de-Sac is not a moral failing. It's just smart. Seeing a Cliff coming far in advance isn't a sign of weakness. Instead, it represents real insight and bravery. It frees up your energy for the Dip.