Breakaway Insights: Is Your “Dip” Worth It? Or Time to Pivot?

In his book The Dip, Seth Godin makes a powerful distinction every leader should know: the difference between a dip and a dead end. 

A dip is a temporary valley on the way to success—something you push through because what’s on the other side is worth it. But a dead end? That’s a valley that leads nowhere. No matter how much energy or money you pour in, it won’t get better. 

As home care leaders, knowing when to push through and when to pivot is critical. And yet, too many agency owners stay stuck in the wrong valleys for too long. Why? 

Because of a “thinking trap” called sunk cost bias. 

This happens when we keep investing in something—time, money, effort—just because we’ve already invested so much, even if it’s no longer serving us. 

Here’s what sunk cost bias looks like in home care: 

✅ You know a team member isn’t a cultural fit, but you “can’t afford” to replace them because of how much time you’ve invested training them. 

✅ You keep paying for technology that over-promised and under-delivered, telling yourself “we’ve spent so much on this; it has to work eventually.” 

✅ You pour energy into payer sources—VA contracts, Medicaid waivers, referral partners—that consistently give little return, hoping this year will finally be different. 

✅ You stick with a broken process, trying to patch it with more meetings and new checklists instead of rebuilding it the right way. 

The result? You get stuck in The Dip—but it’s not really a dip anymore. It’s a drain. 

💭 Think Your Way Out of the Wrong Dips 

In the Think phase of the Breakaway365 Framework, we help leaders step back from the day-to-day grind to look at their business—and their life—with fresh perspective. 

When you’re stuck, it’s easy to ask, “What do I do next?” But a better question is: 

👉 “Is this aligned with my Guiding Truths? Or am I clinging to this out of fear and sunk cost?” 

High-performing home care leaders don’t succeed because they never quit. They succeed because they quit the right things faster than others. 

They’re willing to: 

• Let go of people who aren’t aligned—even if it’s uncomfortable. 

• Stop investing in tools that aren’t delivering ROI—even if it means admitting a mistake. 

• Walk away from referral relationships that take more than they give—even if they’ve been years in the making. 

• Redesign processes instead of patching them endlessly. 

In other words, they’re not afraid to cut their losses and pivot. 

This isn’t about giving up. It’s about thinking bigger. 

🛤 The Path Forward: Using Your Guiding Truths 

The antidote to sunk cost bias is clarity. When you’re clear on what matters most, decisions about what to quit and what to keep get easier.

That’s why we built the Guiding Truths AI Tool—to help home care leaders like you identify what’s essential and use it as a filter for decision-making. 

Before you pour more money, time, or energy into your “dip,” ask yourself: 

✅ Does this align with my Guiding Truths? ✅ Am I in a dip worth pushing through—or a dead end I need to quit? ✅ If I weren’t already invested, would I choose this again today? 

🚨 Don’t Stay Stuck 

Seth Godin says: “Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt—until they commit to beating the right dip for the right reasons.” 

Your business deserves your best energy—not energy wasted on the wrong valleys. 

🎯 Use our Guiding Truths AI Tool today to evaluate your current “dips” and get clarity on what to quit—and what’s worth fighting for. 

👉 [Try the Guiding Truths AI Tool Here] 

Breakaway from the dips that no longer serve you—and build a home care business aligned with the life you really want.