“… incremental daily progress (negative or positive) is what actually causes transformation. A figurative drip, drip, drip. Showing up, every single day, gaining in strength, organizing for the long haul, building connection, laying track—this subtle but difficult work is how culture changes.” – Seth Godin
Today’s blog post by Seth Godin reveals the key to making change. It’s not flashy, sexy and provocative … no, it’s ordinary, unadorned tenacity. The kind of resolve sustained by passion. A want so deep and strong it pulls me through the misery of tedium. Thru the monotonous research, analysis, writing, corroboration; re-writing. The dull study, practice, training and tweaking before more rehearsal. If it’s worth having it’s worth the trudge.
Four years ago I read the book, Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge, M.D. They told me that if I want to be vital and energetic; to maintain the get-up-and-go that gets more elusive each year – I need to stay active (“Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life”). Oh; and I need to eat right (“Quit eating crap!”). Two of my favorite things! HA! Gotta REALLY want health to make that effort.
The same goes for my education, my writing, my activism. In his book The Dip, Seth Godin says, “The Dip is the secret to your success. The people who set out to make it through the Dip—the people who invest the time and the energy and the effort to power through the dip—those are the ones who become the best in the world.”
“The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery.”
“IMPORTANT NOTE: 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.”
Not everything is “dip worthy.” I must ask myself: am I settling for being “average”? Am I making a difference in this rat race? Am I living in a “cul-de-sac” AKA “dead end”? Is my job a cul-de-sac? What are the time wasters showing up in my life (Facebook, TV, solitaire)?
Seth encourages me to “find a Dip to conquer” – to quit the idling cul-de-sacs, quit the stuff I don’t care about; stop doing what I know I’ll only ever be mediocre at.
Life is the little things; and the “drip, drip, drip” of the Dip.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
“Water is fluid, soft & yielding but water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield … what is soft is strong.” ― Lao Tzu
Right on, Chica!