“Don’t Be a Quitter”

Typically we think of being a “quitter” as something bad. There’s some truth to this. Deciding to quit, especially if it’s something important, can be a sign that you’re struggling or that you’ve given up. Nobody ever wants to say that they’ve given up on something worthwhile.

Worthwhile – that’s the key. We’ve got to recognize that not everything in life is worth doing. For example, I hate mindless paperwork. Sometimes I have to do mindless paperwork (taxes come to mind), but other times, I can choose not to do something because it’s not a priority. You can make that choice too. We don’t like quitting things that we’ve started, but sometimes, it’s a good idea — maybe even necessary. Ask yourself whether the commitment furthers your lifelong goals. If it doesn’t, it’s a good candidate to be scrapped.

Starting Fresh

There are two situations that might cause you to abandon a commitment. First, you might actually want to restart that commitment. That is, things aren’t going as planned, and you’d like a fresh start. In one sense, you’re not really quitting, but we should recognize that starting over is perfectly okay too.

Sometimes I start a blog entry and realize that I don’t like the specific points that I addressed. As a result, I decide to change a portion of it, but that portion no longer fits well with the rest of what I’ve written. At that point, I might be better off starting over. So I abandon what I’ve already done, and start fresh. Starting over can be a great “tool” when we’re going down the wrong road. Often, people are afraid of starting over because of the time that they already invested. But on the other hand, you might actually save a lot of time by starting over.

Start with a Goal in Mind

The other reason you might quit something is because you think that a different project or pursuit is more worth your time. This is a great reason to quit. Constant evaluation and prioritization of all the stuff in your life will keep your eye on the goals that are really worth your time. In the end, we want our lives filled with events that we feel are really meaningful.

So when you quit something to start something else, have a good idea of what you want to get done with this project. If it’s important to you, then you don’t want to quit in the middle. Some people say that visualizing yourself reaching your goal is a good way to motivate yourself. That tactic never worked for me, but it might work for others. However you get yourself motivated, just make sure that you motivate yourself enough to finish the really important and meaningful projects. Otherwise, your good reason for quitting will be quickly overshadowed by a not-so-good reason for quitting.