When To Quit

How often do you think about quitting?

Seems like an odd way to start a newsletter aimed at helping high performers flourish and sustain excellence, but I’m here to convince you that quitting well is a skill that we should all consider honing.

Quitting carries such a heavy, negative connotation in high performance spaces. It feels very personal, like a character flaw for “weak people”. Call me anything, but don’t call me quitter! 

We’ve all heard the classic motivations…

“Whatever you do, don’t quit!”

“The only way to fail is to stop trying!”

“Don’t ever give up!”

“Winner’s never quit, and quitters never win!”

“Oh, so you’re just going to quit? Give up on yourself? Your teammates?”

Many of us are operating from a biased paradigm that suggests we would rather be miserable than considered a quitter. 

How can we shift the way we relate to quitting? 

First, it’s important to align on what it means to quit. 

Quitting simply means to stop doing something.  

But if asked to elaborate we would all likely begin displaying our biased thinking by suggesting other negative labels we associate with “quitting”. 

Things like;

… lack of resilience

… no commitment 

… unreliable

… laziness

… weakness

Interestingly, in researching this topic, I discovered that quit originates from the Latin word “quies” which means to rest, to release, be still and to have peace.

Sounds like there is wisdom in quitting. Perhaps the foolishness lies in the ridiculous decisions we make just to avoid being labeled a “quitter”.

To quit is to make a decision. More specifically, it is a decision to stop something. 

To quit well, means to purposely quit things that detract from your goals, misalign with your values, and undermine your peace and overall well-being.

Quitting well requires the continuous honing of our decision making and the ongoing cultivation of our introspection so that we can know when to walk away.

The problem is we too narrowly frame quitting as an outcome as opposed to a component of a larger decision making process. 

Quitting should always align with your goals, values, and beliefs.

Look, life is hard enough as is. Let’s not make it harder by; 

… holding onto things that are holding us back

… sticking with things that are keeping us stuck

… or devoting to things that are consistently draining or distracting.

So, when do you quit? It depends. It’s personal!

But, you might want to consider quitting when whatever you’re doing is not progressing you towards your goals, doesn’t align with your values, runs counter to your beliefs, and/or is disrupting your peace.

Creating a life you love cannot be “figured out” through thinking alone. It requires trial and error. Starting and quitting.

It requires experience, we can’t know what we love until we’ve experienced it. 

Only your experiences and results, not your mentors or the influencers you follow, can validate for you that quitting was a way of peace.

Slow down, be in the moment, and pay attention to the alignment of your inner life and the world around you.

Don’t waste your time trying to figure it out before you start and don’t waste your time continuing to do something you’ve determined to no longer serve its purpose.

Experiment, explore, have experiences and then make your decision on whether to quit or stick with it. 

This is the way we learn.

For me personally, when it comes to quitting, I keep it simple, following the lyrical advice of Drake in Too Much;

The moment I stop having fun with it, I’m done with it! 

Look if I have to quit a few things in the process of curating a life I love then, please, by all means call me a quitter!