When do you Quit?

Think back to the last time you walked away from something meaningful. A project, a business, a relationship, a cause. What was it that made you quit? What was the trigger?

Quitting is not necessarily bad. There are times when quitting is actually wise, especially if you are walking away from something that is draining or damaging you financially, emotionally or professionally. For the most part however, quitting is labelled, or viewed, as something negative.

You quit when you've had enough. When you cannot go on. When the goal doesn't justify the effort. Whether the reason is good or bad though, making the final decision to walk away can either be easy, or difficult.

It's easy to quit something that causes you pain or requires sacrifice, like your New Years exercise resolution, or your daily prospecting plan. If something interferes with your comfort zone, it's an easy decision to quit because you actually feel good about slipping back into your place of comfort.  Comfort is a reward.

Quitting is difficult however, if you battle with the concept of regret, and you experience the fear of missing out on 'what could have been.'  Regret feels bad, as it can cause genuine anxiety over whether the decision to quit was the right one, or not.

Quitting anything is such a personal decision. The next time you're considering walking away from anything, for good or bad reasons, consider the following:

1. Pain. In life there will always be pain.  Pain isn't necessarily a reason to quit, and you have to be aware of the type of pain you are dealing with.  There is pain in discipline, especially when you are establishing routines and habits, and quite often, you need to persist with this pain to push through your breaking point. Think of the disciplines required in your last diet, exercise routine, or even making those business calls to your database. There is no such thing as instant gratification. 

You are in control of this and the good news is that you get to make a choice. Whilst you can choose to walk away from the pain of discipline, understand then that the consequence of this choice is that you must be prepared to experience the pain of regret.  You get to choose which pain you will experience.

2. Effort versus Reward. Anything of any real value that you will ever want to achieve in your life will require some form of effort or sacrifice on your part. Make sure the reward is worth it. What you need to decide is whether all your effort and sacrifice is going to be channeled into something that is actually attainable (ie: is it realistic), and is of going to add value to your life, to the point that you are prepared to fight through the quitting points to get to the finish line. 

There is no point fighting for something that was never realistic or attainable in the first place.  The moment you believe that your reward is unattainable, or not worth the effort, then your quitting point comes sooner.

3. Your Reason. Your why needs to be strong. I know you hear this all the time, but it is so true. I've spent some time recently with some really amazing triathletes, and when I hear what they go through in their pursuit of glory I always ask them the same question....what keeps you going?  They always answer the same way. It's a mental battle that they win by constantly reminding themselves why they are doing what they do. The reason is personal to each individual, but the reason needs to be there in order to drive you through your quitting points. 

When your why does not exist, then your quitting point comes sooner.

Finally, when things are getting tough, and you're chasing your goals, battling through relationships, or trying to build habits to transform your business or personal life, remember to look around you.  At the moment you feel like quitting, stop and look around.

There is always evidence around you to inspire you to keep pushing harder. It's right in front of you. It may be a person who is showing you what is possible, it may be an event that brings opportunity, or it might even be a reminder that you've experienced harder times before, and you're still here fighting. Have faith in the knowledge that anything is possible.

If the goal is realistic and attainable, then the suffering is always worth it in the end. Or put differently, in the absence of suffering, life wouldn't really be all that remarkable, would it?

Have a great week