Have You Hit "The Dip?"

I just finished reading Seth Godin's book, "The Dip: A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit (And When to Stick)." It originally came out in 2007 -- and although I'm a huge Seth Godin fan, I somehow missed this one.

Which is unfortunate, because the message in The Dip probably would have served me well in recent years.

Here are three simple concepts that Seth outlines in the book:

• Quit the wrong stuff.
• Stick with the right stuff.
• Have the guts to do one or the other.

He describes The Dip as follows:
At the beginning, when you first start something, it's fun. It's interesting. It's easy to stay engaged in it. Then the Dip happens. It's "the long slog between starting and mastery." You know, the hard part: the middle.

...When you start writing a resume and you're zipping along, and suddenly you don't know where to go next. You're simply stuck.
... When you start your business and get a whole bunch of clients, and then ... all of a sudden, it seems ... the phone stops ringing.
... Or you start to write a book, and the first few chapters seem to write themselves ... and then your brain freezes up.

That's the Dip. Read the book to find out how Seth suggests you get through it (and WHY it's important to get through it. And when you should QUIT instead of trying to get through it).

Here's a hint (from Seth):
"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 he rules as they go. Just because you know you're in the Dip doesn't mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don't last quite as long when you whittle at them."

"The Power of Who" - Inspiration for Job Seekers

I just finished reading "The Power of Who: You Already Know Everyone You Need To Know" by Bob Beaudine, the nation's leading sports recruiter. One story in the book, in particular, caught my attention.

A jobseeker was driving home from an interview in Chicago. It was a job he really wanted, and he had failed the interview. His prospects for employment were bleak, and his self-confidence was shot. He turned on the radio and came across a radio talk show program where the host was interviewing the author of a book titled, "Ultimate Success." The author, Frank Beaudine (Bob’s dad), was asked by the interviewer, "Mr. Beaudine, is there any advice you can offer that might be helpful to the person listening right now who is out of work, exhausted by all the rejections, and starting to lose hope?"

Mr. Beaudine's response: "You might have just bombed your last interview, but don't despair. Something great is just around the corner."

Sometimes, jobseekers come to us at just the right moment. We are exactly the right person they need to help them get through the worst moment of their life (getting fired or laid off, for example). We can transform a client's hopelessness into hope; their frustration into action; their despair into encouragement.

(By the way: Read the book. It has some very useful advice for resume writers and our clients. Check out my other blog post about “The Power of Who.”)

Twitter Job Search Guide

I was lucky enough to be selected as a contributor to a new book that just came out last week, "The Twitter Job Search Guide," written by my esteemed colleagues, Susan Britton Whitcomb, Chandlee Bryan, and Deb Dib.

A few weeks ago, contributors were invited to be on a conference call with the authors, and although I haven't seen the book itself yet, I can't wait to read it! These women are amazing, and if you don't follow them yet on Twitter, you should!! You should also check out the website for the book. (I won't hold it against them that they spelled my name wrong in the contributor's section. *smile*)

@SusanWhitcomb
@Chandlee
@CEOCoach

Resume writers whose clients want to know about using Twitter for their job search should definitely check out -- and recommend -- this book!

What We Can Learn From the Oscars

To be the best in your career, you need to practice your craft. Every year's Academy Awards ceremony is recognition of this. It requires patience, teamwork, creativity ... and, most importantly, hard work.

Set high standards for yourself -- for your behavior, your actions, your work ethic. And then work to live up to those ideals. Lowering the bar is a cop-out. I found this quote (author unknown) that sums up the struggle for those who decide that it's too much work to live up to the ideal that they had once expressed for themselves.

“The greasiest leverage you can create for yourself is the pain that comes from inside, not outside. Knowing that you have failed to live up to your own standards for your life is the ultimate pain. If we fail to act in accordance with our own view of ourselves, if our behaviors are inconsistent with our standards - with the identity we hold for ourselves - then the chasm between our actions and who we are drives us to make a change. One of the strongest forces in the human personality is the drive to preserve the integrity of our own identity.”

You want to be an Oscar-winning actor or director? You must work hard. You can't say, "Well, that's too much trouble."

You want to be the best resume writer there is? You must put in the time. Write a lot of resumes. Work on improving your skills. Take criticism gracefully. And never, ever lower your standards.