Seth Godin, that brilliant marketer, wrote a short little book called The Dip. Seth lays out what it takes to become not only good at something, but the best. In the book he is talking about building a career, but principles he lays out apply to the learning of any skill.
What it Takes
The above graph depicts what it is like when you are starting a new career, or learning something new. The horizontal axis represents the effort/time you put into your new skill and the vertical axis represents the reward/results you get.
The Start
The left side of the graph shows the initial excitement of starting something new. You have put forth a little effort and you are seeing some results! You just got accepted to med school and everyone is congratulating you. It is exciting.
The Success
The right side of the graph is the where everyone dreams of being. Those on the right side of the graph are successful at what they do. The doctor you see yourself becoming at the beginning of med school lives on the right side of the graph. You work hard, but are rewarded handsomely for it.
The Dip
But to get to the right side we have to cross the middle, "the dip." The initial high wears off and even though you are working at it harder then you were in the beginning you are getting less results. If you look at the graph closely, the results can even be worse then when you first started! The dip is the grind. The dip is your organic chemistry class. The dip separates the beginning from mastery.
One of the big takeaways from the book is that if you are not prepared to meet the challenge of the dip then you should give up now. Do not waste your time on something that you are not fully prepared to master or are unable to master, that is a dead-end. In the hyper-connected world we live in you gain nothing by being mediocre at a skill. If you want to do something, do it and be prepared to face the dip.
This even applies to writing on Steemit, you write your first post and get tons of comments and upvotes. A week later you are the only one upvoting your posts.
Getting Through the Dip
Successful people don’t just ride out the Dip. They don’t just buckle down
and survive it. No, they lean into the Dip. They push harder, changing
the rules as they go. Just because you know you’re in the Dip doesn’t mean
you have to happily live with it. Dips don’t last quite as long when you
whittle at them.
-Seth Godin - The Dip
The good news is that the dip doesn't last forever and if you keep working at your new skill you will come out the other side of the dip and things will get easier. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Dip by Seth Godin. It is a really quick read, but packed with wisdom.
Progress
The dip is where I am currently at with lucid dreaming. I do not even remember one dream from last night. Lucid dreaming is a multifaceted skill. It takes time and effort to master it. I'm going to push through this dip. I'm going to keep learning and practicing until I get there.
| Date | Dreams Remembered | Lucid Dreams |
|---|---|---|
| 7/26 | 0 | 0 |
| 7/27 | 3 fragments | 0 |
| 7/28 | 1 fragment | 0 |
| 7/29 | 1.5 | 1 partial |
| 7/30 | 1 | 0 |
| 7/31 | 3 | 0 |
| 8/1 | 1 | 0 |
| 8/2 | 2 | 0 |
| 8/3 | 0 | 0 |
It's human nature to quit when it hurts. But it's that reflex that creates scarcity. 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
-Seth Godin - The Dip