Both Lance Armstrong and Seth Godin are superstars in their fields, who deserve their own sparkling stars on the Walk of Fame of Human Civilization.
Both names oftentimes trigger light bulb moments in others and are associated with redefining human beings’ capacity to be extraordinary. Lance has triumphed over deadly cancer and later proven his physical and mental stoutness as an athlete. Seth is one of the most notable contemporary thinkers and doers in our lifetime. Both have their own philosophy over what constitutes failing and quitting.
Lance Armstrong once said, “Live strong. Failure is not an option.” It may sound cliché, but this professional cyclist truly meant what he said, which explained how he won all those world-class titles. He made achieving looked effortless and remarkably easy to do. It is crystal clear that he does not believe in failing and the only way to be is winning.
Seth Godin, on the other hand, believes in quitting. In fact, he wrote in his latest mind-bending and thought-provoking tiny book entitled The Dip: A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), “Winners quit all the time.” This adage contradicts Vince Lombardi’s, “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”
Apparently this bold bald guy believes in something quite astonishingly “taboo” among winners. Does it mean he believes in failure? If he does, does it mean he opposes Armstrong’s belief as he opposes Lombardi’s?
Winners do quit, but how, when, and why do they quit? That is the smart question to ask. I, too, believe in quitting. Quitting strategically, however, just like Godin believed. Throughout my lifetime, I have quitted so many times that I have lost count. In the first twenty years, I listened to others when it came to deciding when to quit or not. Apparently, as I had become the so-called “professional quitter,” it became second nature and it heightened my awareness on how, when, and why I would need to do it.
Seth said, “Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other.” Put it this way. Quit the things that will not make you a superstar. Quit often and strategically. However, before you do so, be aware of the circumstances that make you come into conclusion to quit. Learn from the lessons and use them in your future steps. Sharpen your intuition and mental alertness to see whether it is good timing to quit. When it is so, do it with courage and a smile.
Stick to your dreams. Create annual and five-year plans. Be consistent and take notes of what, why, and how things happened. After all, quitting is not a synonym of failing, as the latter is deleting your lifelong dreams. Quitting is merely changing tracks in life in order to find other tracks that would bring your visions closer to realization. It is an action, not a state of existence. It is a temporary thing based on the courage to be remarkable.
Superstars are visionaries and they know what it means to be remarkable. They detest mediocrity. They know where they are heading in life, pave their own pathways, and stick to their dreams. Along the way, they will quit so many times, but they will not fail themselves by losing their visions.
Welcome to the club of strategic quitters, the only club belongs to future superstars.
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thks for sharing this review
regards
cowoktulen
So touching, Jennie; as if written personally for me. I have spent years to believe in improvement and never believe in quitting. Sometimes I know that I have lost myself :). Now, I guess I have to reevaluate my mind.
@Cowoktulen: The pleasure is all mine. Thanks for your continued support.
@Koen: Trust your gut. Remember Malcolm Gladwell in Blink, sometimes we just know what we need to do within the first few seconds of encounter. And I thank you for reading this modest posting.
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ehm..nice article.Good Jennie :-)
This is funny. I just took a peek of ‘the dip’ yesterday at Aksara bookstore, Citos. I was tempted to buy it but had to wait until payday =(.
Seth always wrote controversial yet true to the bone issues, all of his marketing book are just mindblowing experience (I read all of them except the last one, small is the new big).
I’ll buy this book and just by taking a peek of it, I recommend this book to anybody who think that quitting is a failure. Be a winner by quitting!
@Arif: Thank you, I hope it’s useful.
@Avianto: It’s true how one’s writings can change others. From early in the beginning of human civilization, writings continue to make changes in people’s life. If you haven’t downloaded my free e-book Mindset Sukses, do so asap at http://www.jennieforindonesia.com. I hope it’s useful to you.
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Pleasure to be here. Now, I can learn how to review a book by reading article in this blog, especially in English. Writing is quite simple,hehe.
@Detra, thank you for your visit. English is simple and so is writing. Combining the two, you’ll get simple x 2 = super simple. After all, “simple” is a mindset.
Hehehe… guess i never actually looked at it that way. Thanks for sharing Jennie.
@Arief, we all learn new things everyday. Thanks for reading and allowing this article to sink in your mind.
I will quit when I reach success, but the definition about success is changing. Sometimes people change their definition about success in the middle of process. I do change a lot from an idealistic to more realistic one. Its kind a moving target. Thanks for the positive article, its sharpened my fine-tuning instinc.
@Wibisono, everybody has their own definition of success and sure we all change from time to time depending on various reasons. In my dictionary, success is a mindset. It’s not a journey, nor a destination. It’s already within you.
In a nutshell, we create our own failures, while our default state is “success.” I’ve written a book about this entitled “Mindset Sukses,” more on how to maintain it in that tiny pocketbook. Keep smiling and believe that you’re successful from the day you were conceived.
“Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other.”
quite difficult to see the differences… coz
when we have a progress, sometimes we’ll forget about our goal, coz progress feel’s good.
Damn, I can’t express it in english :D
biSoT
“Still Curious”
@Bisot, that’s the challenge. You’ll need to ask yourself really hard. Use your conscience and intuition to find what’s best for you and your future. Wishing you all the best.
suprising find you in crowd of virtual word, one who inspiring me to move forward.
salute
@Seratjati, thank you for your compliment.
dear ms.jennie
i’ve read alot about your articles (in pembelajar.com),and they’ve inspired me to be more confident during my internship at hospital in jember, east java.
i really love tour writings!
Thank you so much!
@Rully, I thank you for your continued support. I wish you the best with your internship in the hospital. Thank you for making a difference in the world, one breath at a time.
Hello Jennie,
I just be back now and I will continue to fully support you whatever you do, wherever you go….Keep spirit and hope all your dream will come true..
Cheersssss
Arman
@Arman, thank you for your kind support. May all your dreams come true as well.
@Arman, thank you for your continued support. You too are my inspiration.
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Hi Jennie, I just read about you in Kartini magazine, and the article inspired me to reach and bringing me in this web. Basically I am looking for the new inspiration about life track especially to start with my own business. I am employee with 3 kids. I spent 14 hours a day for the commuter and jobs, and let my kids growing naturally and asking them to understand about my activity .. he he ups sorry seems I share my life complaint to you… well your article leave a little bit inspiration to me. but I think to build the strong commitment in our self to change its another story…this is my first impression .. want to know you and your article further.. c u
Salam kenal semua. Baru tau ada blog ini. Keep the good work guys…
Hi ! This Page is very cool. Greetings from Chile.