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The quit card

One of the toughest questions that comes up, is when to use the quit card.

There are two things I like to think about when deciding whether or not to use a quit card.

First, quitting is usually underrated.  Most of us have done it a lot.  We don’t still take tennis lessons or still play the saxophone.  Or we stopped talking to the girl who didn’t have enough time for us.  Along the way, we quit and things may have worked out for the better.

Second, often times, we quit the wrong things at the wrong time. We quit our daily gym routine right before it becomes a habit. We quit running during the marathon. But not at mile 2, but at mile 22 when we were almost done. And we quit working hard in our jobs right before the promotion was about to come in.

So the question is how do we decipher between the two?

The problem is that the longer we wait, the more expensive quitting is. We’ve already spent more  time and money on our work. We’re already more emotionally  invested. And we already lost time where we could have done something else.

In the end, maybe we should use our quit card more early and often. And maybe we shouldn’t start unless we know we can finish. And unless we’re willing to risk it all emotionally.

On the other hand, perhaps we should also stick it out when it’s worth the time. And when staying put will give us an opportunity to change everything.

Just a thought.