Quitting Is A Success Skill

We have heard so many stories and doctrines about how to succeed and how to win. Most of these ideas work, but only for a tiny fraction of those who subscribe.  The fact is, everybody have unique personalities and experiences and therefore have to customize their own path to success.  Making the right choices at the right time can make a huge difference in this path, and usually determines where you end up on the success ladder.

Decision making remains critical in this process and knowing when or what to quit is one of the best skills you could ever have. 

Quitting is a success skill...

This is a bizarre statement if we go by the the negative connotations associated with the word "Quitting".  How then can Quitting be a success skill?  

I will credit this statement to Seth Godin the very successful marketing "evangelist" or "guru" to use the popular cliche. He was the first person I heard with these profound words and I sought to explain it through my own experiences.

Success mean different things to different people. Furthermore the concept of success has been lost in today's world and we probably would be better off trading the words success and money loosely - But I know better. I would like to look at success in the context of a career goal being achieved and used to good effect (social good).  

Quitting as it is can be a sign of weakness, lack of loyalty incompetence or maliciousness.  So if quitting is an effect of any of those qualities then it is not very useful.  Some people are just not good at completing tasks because they do not have the focus, the drive or even the discipline to sustain them.  Others are just not equipped with the right level of ambition to carry out tasks and therefore suffer from a lack of inspiration to see things to completion or to even work with a good plan.  

Lets now look at quitting in the context of strength of character, boldness, confidence or honesty.  Have you ever tried quitting a bad habit? If you have succeeded in doing that you have used a success skill.  

Sometimes the things that hold us back or stop us from achieving, are the bad habits which we develop in our growing years.  I am talking about the late sleeping that we picked up in the summer months, waking up at 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning.  The late night snacking that pile on the calories and weight that helps to limit our confidence.  The smoking, gambling and drinking habits that we developed through our social circles in college.  These are grave impediments to our success and quitting these habits could do a world of good for our careers. Quitting is a success skill...

One of the problems a lot of us have is that we like to think we are super humans.  We like to take on a lot of things at once with our optimism and philanthropic traits. We like to be "Jack of all trades" because society has evolved and we need to be versatile, adaptable and functional.  

So we go out and we pick up two and three jobs, join the parish associations, school board, sports team and god knows what else.  This is with good intentions of course and at the start hope springs eternal and optimism eternally springs.  Until the going gets tough and you realize that you spread yourself thin, so much so that you are ineffective in almost all the million things that you signed up to.  You tell yourself you can do it, and you probably can - except that you have two children and a wife or husband that needs your attention too.  

You have to balance things in a reasonable way, for it is better to be fully effective doing two or three things than being half-way effective in a thousand things.  There are times when you need to quit some of the things you cannot manage.  There is more honour in being honest to yourself and your community than disappointing them.  Quitting is a success skill...  

Many times our pride get the better of us.  In that, our perception that quitting is bad and it render us weak hold us hostage.  This notion needs to be handled with care because it destroys us even more than we think. In fact it is dishonourable to continue to be ineffective in a task with the excuse that you have a hundred other responsibilities.  The loyal thing to do is "quit". yes I said it and I am not going to polish it or try to be diplomatic because it just stains our reputation.  Quit and allow someone with the time and commitment to do an honest job. 

Stop deceiving yourselves into thinking you are superman or superwoman.  Your life is not guaranteed tomorrow and when you die someone else will take your place in the material world.  Your focus should be on doing the most effective and impactful job you can, such that you leave a legacy that will outlive your days.  Quit the things that impede your progress and effective performance in the things that are most important. 

My uncle R.Jones once said, "everything in life is important, but some things are more important".  Quit the things that are not important because quitting is a success skill. 

"Optimism is no excuse for being unrealistic" OJB 

Quitting is a success skill...