Why it’s OK to quit

The word ‘quit’ is not a favourable term in the business dictionary. I’m here to tell you that quitting can be a good thing, and if you don’t know how to quit – you won’t make it. Crazy, right?

From birth we are told that quitting is synonymous with failure. Whether it be a job, a relationship or a project we are taught to never give up, even if it kills you. This is not true, and here’s why.

There’s a limit to perseverance. Say you’re working on a project that is draining funds and yielding no return. You’ve worked on this idea for a good few months and put simply, it’s a failure. As you’ve been conditioned to never let go, you continue to work on it. In the end you simply cannot afford to continue with it, and it is dead in the water.

Wouldn’t it have been better to have stopped working on it when you realised it wasn’t coming to fruition? As Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Edison had to quit literally thousands of times to engineer arguably the most commonly used invention in the world.

Quitting doesn’t make you a quitter. Repeat this after me: the project failed, but I didn’t. Our work is a reflection of ourselves and it’s difficult to admit that something failed. But what happens if we looked at quitting in a new light? Quitting is ceasing an activity that is no longer beneficial. Now examine your current endeavours; are they helping or hindering your growth and progression?

See the signs. At times work, a business venture or and idea sucks the life out of you and that is a by-product of perseverance, but when it begins compromising who you are (your values and objectives) it is time to throw in the towel. If you’re constantly miserable, undervalued and not progressing give yourself permission to say, “I tried, but this isn’t going anywhere” and start investing in something new. Daily you should take stock of your life by asking, “Are my efforts helping me achieve what I want right now?”

If the answer is no, it’s time to move on.

Do you feel like you’re flogging a dead horse? Is it time to re-evaluate and possible move on?