When Quitting is the Next Best Step
By Kara Caplivski |
“Winners never quit, and quitters never win,” is a great axiom to live by . . . in sports. The character qualities inherent in this quote—determination, persistence, hard work, etc.—are noble traits, until they create a fog clouding the ability to acknowledge that quitting just might make sense. In some cases, the sooner you can admit you should quit, the better, and the fewer losses you will incur. Quitting isn’t easy to think about because it can feel a lot like admitting defeat, but there is wisdom in knowing when to quit. Sometimes, quitting is the next best step toward progress and winning overall.
Quitting—a job, a business partnership, an unhealthy relationship—doesn’t make you a quitter. Einstein is credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” When you can assess a situation and see that there’s no progress or positive change after a concerted effort, it’s time to quit. It would be crazy to keep doing the same thing and expect a behavior change, profit to materialize, or passion to ignite out of nowhere. I tried Orange Theory fitness for a year, and although I enjoyed the workouts, after realizing I had not lost any weight, I was paying for two gym memberships, and I was really stressed out about having a time constraint, I quit! I didn’t quit pursuing health and fitness goals, but I recognized that this method wasn’t the best way to pursue fitness goals because it did not complement the goals I have in other areas of my life.
A lie I have told to convince myself _not_ to quit is, “I should see this through to the finish because I’ve already invested so much \_\_\_\_\_\_” (time, money, or emotion). In business and economics, this is called the _sunk costs fallacy_. This type of reasoning states that further investment is justified because the resources already invested will otherwise be lost. It’s like paying $12.50 for movie, realizing after 10 minutes it is a terrible film, and choosing to continue to sit through the next 90 minutes of it in order to get your money’s worth. When a cost that cannot be recovered is taken into account in decision making, the decisions are then, by definition, irrational. It’s better to quit! You could spend that hour and a half doing something you enjoy instead of sitting through a bad movie. Admit when things aren’t going according to your expectations and get off that path as soon as possible.
Quitting has the connotation of giving up or abandoning something, but it might be the next best step toward achieving your goals. Quitting can be a way of recalibrating; it’s recognizing things have gotten off track, and in order to move forward, you’ve got to abandon this train and catch a different one. It is important to quit responsibly: have another job lined up before quitting your current one; honor commitments that you’ve made (and then quit once they’re finished.) Quitting can be a very healthy decision. My husband often encourages me with the first line of this poem, but the whole poem contains enough gems to share the whole thing with you. I hope that it encourages you to quit when it’s time.
_Letting Go_
_To_ _let go_ _doesn’t mean to stop caring,_
_it means I can’t do it for someone else._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to cut myself off,_
_it’s the realization that I can’t control another._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to enable,_
_but to allow learning from natural consequences._
_To_ _let go_ _is to admit powerlessness,_
_which means the outcome is not in my hands._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to try to change or blame another,_
_I can only change myself._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to care for, but to care about._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to fix, but to be supportive._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to judge,_
_but to allow another to be a human being._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes,_
_but to allow others to effect their own outcomes._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to be protective,_
_but to permit another to face reality._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to deny, but to accept._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to nag, scold, or argue,_
_but to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to adjust everything to my desires,_
_but to take each day as it comes, and to cherish the moment._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to criticize and regulate anyone,_
_but to become the best I can be._
_To_ _let go_ _is not to regret the past,_
_but to grow and live for the future._
_To_ _let go_ _is to fear less, trust in God more,_
_and freely give the love He’s given to me._
Taken from _“The Grace Awakening”_ by Chuck Swindoll
