Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 35 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Quit before you start
— From The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin
Dick Collins, the ultramarathon runner, said, “Decide before the race the conditions that will cause you to stop and drop out. You don’t want to be out there saying, ‘Well, gee, my leg hurts, I’m a little dehydrated, I’m sleepy, I’m tired, and it’s cold and windy.’ And talk yourself into quitting. If you are making a decision based on how you feel at that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.”
In life and business, just as Collins did it with his sport, it’s important to figure out what the conditions are for quitting before you get started. In The Dip, marketing guru Seth Godin says that this is tool number one: “If quitting is going to be a strategic decision that enables you to make smart choices in the marketplace, then you should outline your quitting strategy before the discomfort sets in.”
Godin goes on to say, “quitting when you’re panicked is dangerous and expensive. The best quitters… are the ones who decide in advance when they’re going to quit. You can always quit later—so wait until you’re done panicking to decide.”
The problem with the way we quit is that, barring emergencies or life-or-death circumstances, the decision is made at a moment of great pressure or great discomfort, without much time to think and truly analyze the consequences of our actions.
“When the pressure is greatest to compromise, to drop out, or to settle, your desire to quit should be at its lowest. The decision to quit is often made in the moment. But that’s exactly the wrong time to make such a critical decision. The reason so many of us quit in the Dip is that without a compass or a plan, the easiest thing to do is to give up. While that might be the easiest path, it’s also the least successful one.”
The hardest part, Godin says, is to have the perspective to know when you are in a Cul-de-Sac to quit, and when you are in a Dip to continue. That is why setting your parameters before you get started is very powerful, because once you’re in pain, frustrated or stuck you may just want to get out, but that may deter you from reaching your goals.
ACTION
TODAY: Are you about to start something? Set your parameters for quitting before you get started. Or if you are already involved in something but have never set up your criteria for quitting, do it today. Remember that quitting is not a bad thing and we all need to do it. Here are two posts to expand on this: Selective Quitting and Understanding When to Quit and When to Stick.
FUTURE: Make it a habit of setting your quitting criteria before you start something. That way you won’t have to make a decision that you might later regret because your mind was under much pressure.
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