Winners Quit!!

We've all heard the phrase "Winners never Quit; Quitters never Win"... Here is something that sounds better!!

Seth Godin, the guru of smart marketing, says the key to being a good quitter is knowing when you've reached a dead end, not just a rough patch...

First off, what is "the dip"?

The dip is the spot everyone trying to master something new reaches but that few get through. It's quitting organic chemistry on the way to becoming a doctor. It's the hard part that wipes most out.

Conventionally speaking, quitting isn't considered a positive attribute in society, but you take a different approach. Explain.

I think people quit all the time, but at the wrong time. Most quit in the dip, when the new thing they're trying is hard and when they're in pain. In fact, the best time to quit is when you're at a dead end and you aren't going to get any better. The worst time to quit is when you're in the dip. The dip is your friend. If you can get through it, it's worth the journey.

How did you come to theorize in opposition to the old cliché that "quitters never win and winners never quit"

With my blog and work, I hear people from all lines of work—from churches to big companies to small businesses. I look for the trends that separate the winners from the losers. From kindergarten on we teach people to be well rounded, but people who do the opposite are the most successful.

For example, when we're going to hire an accountant, we don't ask her about her golf game, we want a great accountant. Today, everything is one click away. Being the best or most extreme is way more valuable then ever before.

How do you know when you've reached the dip and it's time to move on? How do you know that this isn't just a rough patch that will pass?

If you're running a business but aren't seeing more satisfied customers, or you aren't getting more referrals, or you aren't opening new doors, it's clear you're in a dead end. You can keep doing it, but life isn't going to get better.

Too often people go to work and say that they've got to support their family—it's the best job they could get. They sell themselves short and settle for being average, when it's less than they deserve.

You say that most of the successful people in the world are all quitters. What characteristic do they have in common that allows them to know how to get out of a bad situation and re-focus on something better?

In the 1940s, Enzo Ferrari was in charge of the racing program at Alfa Romeo when he realized he wasn't going to get any further. Rather than saying, "I'm 48," and staying on, he quit his job and started Ferrari.

What I see is that people who aren't willing to settle and have passion are more likely to push through the hardest of all dips. They know what it's like to have mastery. If you teach a kid to learn what it's like be the best in world, they get hooked. Too many of us never experienced that win in the chess tournament or starred in the school play. It's not surprising that Ferrari quit his job or that Steve Jobs got through the dip and came up with the iPod.

What about quitters that just quit?

On the other hand, if you're taught to be average and to stick it out and to be a person that keeps his head down and do what you're told, you're doing your best. But when the pain is too great, you quit. You can't get beyond that. Nobody quits the Boston marathon when there's a mile to go. What distinguishes those who quit at the wrong time from those who don't is that the latter group gets through the dip because they can visualize the other side.

You talk a lot about how this works with major companies. How would you say this applies to the entrepreneur and small businesses?

The first challenge is that you don't want to take on a dip that you can't get through. A lot of people do. If you have a couple million dollars and you want to build a search engine to challenge Google (GOOG), that's too big a dip. Pick a dip that's attainable. Have the necessary assets to put behind it.

Will everyone that quits hit the top?

If you get into the habit of getting good at quitting before you reach the dead end, you will find there are far more resources to focus on future dips.

The Indian Moral Brigade

Now, it seems a Jaipur court has issued arrest warrants against Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty. Whats your problem, boss??

These insecure balls-less moral brigade are hiding behind morality/decency 'cos they dont have any conviction of their own... I think these very people (moral brigade) are fighting a losing battle within to control one's own basic instincts and is resorting to self-denial as a way to cover up their failure..

And as if the courts themselves dont have any better work, what with crores of cases still pending.

Life's like that..

Comon.. Give those guys, Abhi & Ash a break, will ya?.. you stand outside their house for hours together just to catch a glimpse... you feel as if your life's purpose has been served by just a wave of their hands.. you even follow them during their visit to a temple... and make a hue and cry over which hand she is holding the prasad with....

I didnt do any of this.. But then, I also have contributed my mite by following up this story.. I plead guilty!

But then, AbhiAsh can do some bit to avoid people some trouble... why did they have to visit at 9.30am... and not, say, 5am... like how Rajinikanth does everytime, it seems (I doubt if anybody even noticed it till now!)

It seems Anil, Amitabh, Abhishek each contributed 51 lakhs towards some programme (educational or food) of the temple... And i remember they did the same the last time they visited too... man.. the money these guys can give!! Why dont they give me even a half of that and I would bless them with eternity ;-) Guess they just dont know about my powers yet.. The next time you are standing outside the gates of Pratiksha (or Jalsa), let them know... I would get you an autographed photo when they come and visit me :P

A Bar of Soap

Life is like a bar of soap.. Soap seems so fresh and invigorating when it is first opened. But if you start expending it, it would soon have very little effulgence to offer. And if you dont use it, then the soap bar would not have served its purpose!

If you can use it the right way and combine it with the right oils and elements, it would last longer. And when one bar grows so small that it might break, you can attach it to another bar and let it live its full course. But you have to consciously attach it, otherwise the new bar would kick out the older one.

Pardon my hyperbole, but things are best when left to your imagination!!

Books, Quotes and iRiver Tapes(player)

I was surfing the Oxford bookstore (Leela Galleria) for my next bus-book... found that both "The Namesake" and "The Alchemy of Desire" are sold out. Guess I should get back to watching movies... movies on a ipod/iriver ;-)

Was sitting at the Cha Bar.. Happened to read some quotes from a Robin Sharma's book... (But then, you know.. the problem with self-help books is just that: ultimately, only YOU have to help yourself ;-)

Its not worth waiting for a standing ovation to decide what matters to you.

You cannot wait till you reach your (life) goals to be happy; Its like saving sex for the old age!!

A Small Step...!!

A small step for man.. a smaller leap for my blog!!

yeah.. the counter shows there have been 20000+ visits to my blog.

Thank you guys... you rock!!

The Valkyries and a Decision

I finished "The Valkyries" sometime back. Thats one of Paulo Coelho's books that is quite obtuse.. He talks of magic, rituals, talking to angels etc... But (one of) the point he is trying to make is - "people end up destroying whatever good they have created" and the root cause of that is "something that happened in one's childhood and a decision they made based on what they thought had happened".. That decision would guide them into the wrong for the rest of their life.

Let me try to explain from my own life... For example, when I was a kid (dont remember the age, but definitely less than 10 yrs old) my mom told me the story of one of her nephews. This guy was very brilliant. He topped his school in studies and sports and what not. His parents sold their possessions to allow him to study in an engineering college (Salem engg college).

He topped all his college exams too.. He got his job through campus placement and was all set to join one of the top companies of India after his graduation. Just a day before his final set of exams, he died from brain fever. It all happened within a day and his parents couldnt even be by his side when he died. They were left totally shattered.

When I heard this story (and witnessed a couple of other incidents, normal worldly incidents like death in the family), I made a decision. The decision was something like I will not be the best. 'Cos if I am the best, I would die.

This decision, made by a kid, had been running my life. And I was not even aware that it was running my life. But if you know me, you can see a pattern in my life. A series of ups and downs, ebbs and troughs.

But when I realised that this is one of the decisions that has been governing my life, and when I 'broke the pact', I got my power back. Now I need no longer be governed by a 7 year old kid. I got the freedom. I can chart my own life. And I can even talk about it!!

This book is supposed to be based on Paulo's real life. Thanks Paulo for letting me into your secrets and letting me rechart my life!!

Veronika decides to Die!

I got this in email recently...

"Subject: Veronica reffered me to you.

science may representative ! sister some ink it's group in care not sock on lip or hope see fork may talk , rest or thumb and bee it wave may disgust try stop not kiss be judge be value try sister ! stem may water some loss try regret be serious not

key and leather , moon be umbrella it's monkey in umbrella in top on amount see waiting it's door or swim it steel the violent the floor it's soft see feeling but garden it's thunder some balance try shirt it's jump but same the first the girl in division not soap the

wrong it's grass it's shade it's political see surprise , picture a brick , living not sweet ! art it insurance the smoke see cold in sticky it color it's brother see week in fixed , same or engine try grain , manager but rhythm see bent and year or education on
""

Confused?? nah... I CANT make ANY sense at all!!


Anyways, this email reminded me of a book whose title is the same as this post's.
Thats one of Paulo Coelho's books... Its supposed to be quite an intense book... I plan to read that sometime...

Quest for Lust

True love seriously seems romantic and far-fetched.. and seems right for the old age.. With changing times.. there seems to be a lesser belief in the concepts of love and soul mates.

Love seems nothing but the chemistry along with some fond associations and a lot of faith.. (who has the time for all that!) If you are looking for true, unrequited love.. go buy yourself a puppy!!

But lust is immediate.. without any need to believe.. without any strings attached... what say?

Guess what?

Next in the series.. Can you guess what this is? (clue.. think homely!)