Regardless of who you are and what you do, there will be times in your life when you feel that something is wrong, that what you are doing is getting you nowhere… And you wonder if you are wasting your time and should give up. Has it ever happened to you?
Or maybe you are very clear that it is time to change, to something new, but you are afraid. Fear of repentance, of wasting all the time, money and training that you have invested so far. What other people are going to think, the feeling of failure to leave, to end up worse than before…
How wonderful it would be to know when we have to give up and when it is worth going forward, right? Or better, if you choose to quit, be able to do so safely and confidently.
I am not going to tell you if you should abandon or not, you are the only one who can make this decision because nobody knows you better than yourself. However, I do want to share with you what I have learned on the subject, both through books and from my own experience. In fact, I recommend Seth Godin's book "The Abyss" (The Dip), which deals with this topic since I found very valuable lessons from it. This is what I have learned:
Just because you have invested time and effort in something does not make that something worthwhile or productive. If you have enjoyed all that time invested, that is your reward.
Quitting does not mean failing, and can in fact be a way to avoid failure. So consider it an option (Seth's words).
Mistakes you may have made in the past do not mean that you can now make a good decision.
If you let fear, pride and what other people expect from you interfere with your path, in 2, 5 or 10 years you will be exactly the same as now.
Enduring a situation that you do not like because of the fear of leaving will make you feel miserable and unmotivated. In these cases, abandoning will allow you to succeed in other fields.
Giving up a tactic that doesn't work doesn't mean giving up your long-term strategy or career path.
Quitting when you are desperate is not a good idea. Decide when it's time to quit before you start. As this well-known Chinese saying goes: " If you must play, decide three things before you start: the rules of the game, what's at stake, and when to quit."
I know that giving up is very difficult, a lot, but I also know that it can be overcome and that it is a good sign if you feel liberated when you do it.
And to finish a few brief words about the opposite, hold on, and I'm going to use a great phrase from "The Abyss."
"Never give up something that has good long-term potential just because you can't handle the stress of the moment."
When in doubt, ask yourself if your persistence will pay off in the long run, and another question is: If I am going to quit anyway, is there anything drastic I can do that can change the situation?
There are circumstances in which neither enduring nor working hard will change anything, and there are other circumstances in which if you are persevering, if you do whatever it takes, you will succeed. So, think, what situation are you in? And what are you going to do about it?
