The Art Of Quitting
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Quitting has a bad rap. How often are we told to "keep going" and "never give up?" The catchphrase from the movie Galaxy Quest comes to mind—"Never give up. Never surrender!"
Parents often encourage children to continue a sport or activity they do not like and can show disappointment when they want to leave. Or we quietly judge a friend for quitting something, whether it is a relationship, a goal, an activity or a job.
Ultimately, those sentiments come from a good place. Yes, we should not quit everything we ever try, and phrases such as "a quitter never wins, and a winner never quits" on motivational posters are meant to encourage us to keep going even when we encounter challenges. However, that type of encouragement can go too far—making people feel guilty for wanting to leave something that simply does not make them happy or denies them the opportunity to flourish. In fact, I would argue that sometimes quitting is essential for success.
In many ways, I have seen successful entrepreneurs and business leaders starting to normalize quitting—in a good way. We recognize the truth that sometimes we must give things up to make space in other areas of our lives.
January 1 is a prime example for what I call "positive" quitting. On New Year's Day, people vow to give up smoking or other vices. In recent years, "Sober January" has become popular—a month in which partied-out people choose to give up alcohol. In the Christian tradition, Lent is a season of giving something up for 40 days. Some men celebrate "Movember"—a month in which they give up shaving to raise awareness for men's health.
The practice of quitting is more celebrated in our culture than we may have previously thought. What lessons can executive leaders take from the practice of "quitting" something? After all, saying "no" to one thing frees up time and energy that we can invest in other projects and initiatives.
I speak from personal experience. When my career began, I was working in a corporate role, and my boss immediately recognized my love for working with others to help them succeed. He fostered that drive within me, and asked me to build, launch and support an internal team. From that experience, I knew that coaching was for me. I dived into leadership books and training materials and enrolled in coaching school, earning my first coaching certification. After a few years, I decided to take a leap and quit the corporate role to start my own company and pursue coaching full time. By saying "no" to a more traditional salaried job, I had the time and energy to pursue my true calling, which turned out to be highly successful and fulfilling. To become a trusted figure and leader in the coaching industry, I had to quit something else first.
But quitting does not have to be as drastic as leaving your job. Perhaps it is giving up on a project, either delegating to another team or trashing it completely. It is saying "no" to unnecessary meetings. Freeing up that time and energy allows for more intentional, focused work elsewhere.
While I believe in saying "no" to certain things, I also encourage my clients to be intentional with their quitting strategy. Do not quit a difficult project just because it is challenging. Instead, quitting should be reserved for leaving one thing that limits you from succeeding in other, more important projects. In a way, quitting is an art form. It requires a lot of thought on the "why" and "how." So what does quitting mean for you? Is there a project that you should say "no" to?
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