When I was about 12 years old, I used some of my babysitting money to buy a small plaque that sat on my desk until after I graduated from college. I can still picture it perfectly – the colors, the font, the phrase:
Quitters never win,
Winners never quit.
My inner achiever took this to heart. Perhaps like many of you, I often equated quitting to giving up, a thought that would cause that same inner achiever to cringe – and also to persist at some things much longer than necessary.
At times, there can be value in a ‘don’t ever quit’ attitude. In her outstanding book Grit, Angela Duckworth discusses the powerful blend of passion and perseverance, and how when those two factors come together, we can achieve beyond what we ever thought possible.
But even then, she doesn’t suggest being gritty all the time, about all the things.
Over the years I’ve become more curious about, and open to, quitting. Rather than a blanket ‘winners never quit’ statement, I’ve explored different perspectives like:
When is it actually in our best interest to quit?
What signals can point us to decide whether persevering or quitting is the better option?
How can we, as achievers, incorporate quitting into our goal-setting and success plans?
Can quitters sometimes win, and winners sometimes quit?
We’ll be discussing all of this and more in our spring term of the ASPIRE Success Club, and enrollment is now open! Space is limited due to an in-person component – though you can still participate 100% virtually as well.
If you’d like to engage in lively discussion with a brilliant group of peers, discover excellent books and resources (including the two that absolutely top my list on the topic!), and hear about some of the things I’ve quit and what I’ve learned in the process, join us in our spring term of the ASPIRE Success Club while space remains! We’d love to see you in the Club!