Day 90: On Quitting in a Smart Way
Quitting when you’re panicked is dangerous and expensive. The best quitters are the ones who decide in advance when they’re going to quit. You can always quit later — so wait until you’re done panicking to decide.
They say that quitters never win, and winners never quit. However, quitting is sometimes more beneficial than stubbornly sticking to something that’s not working for you. The key is to quit in a smart way — as the result of a process of logical thinking, not on a whim in the heat of the moment.
For example, after a couple of years of sticking to a bodybuilding routine I’d grown tired of it. I was often so annoyed during the workout that I wanted to stop it and go home. However, doing so would have allowed my temporary state of mind to make the decision — and that
could have negatively affected my resolve in similar situations in the future where, having once allowed myself to quit on a whim, I would consider it a sensible thing to do again.
I took my time and carefully considered the implications of giving up bodybuilding before I finally parted ways with it. This way, I quit strategically
instead of impulsively
.
If you’re currently discouraged with a certain goal of yours, make a decision that you won’t quit until you can make a logical, educated decision that will take into account all of the repercussions
of doing so. After carefully considering your options and their logical consequences, if you still want to quit, you’re probably making the right choice.