There’s an old saying that winners never quit and quitters never win. For the longest time, I believed this sage advice. Except it is not sage advice. Saying winners never quit is terrible advice.
You may be scratching your head, wondering how this could be true. You’ve got to continue on, and push on to be successful, right? Wrong.
The people who win the most in life also know when to quit. And they quit often.
Dan Miller regularly quits activities. Google quit and shut down multiple projects. So did Steve Jobs.
These people aren’t losers. These people won in the business world. So why do we think quitting is bad?
Quitting isn’t bad. It’s needed.
Photo by Roth Melinda on Unsplash
5 Things To Quit To Become More Successful
You may be wondering what you need to quit. I’m going to give you five suggestions on things to quit. Once you’ve read the list, you’ll develop many more ideas. Let’s be quitters.
Quit a bad habit:
Bad habits trap us in an unfulfilling and, often, dangerous life. Bad habits include drug use, damaging self-talk, smoking, excessive drinking, and more.
What’s your bad habit? What do you need to quit?
Look at your habits. See what’s helping you and what’s hindering you. You’ll discover there are bad habits that have crept into your life that need to go.
Quit negative self-talk:
Speaking of bad habits, a common bad habit is negative self-talk. Negative self-talk is when you constantly bash yourself in your mind. You’re typically not saying the words out loud, but you’re thinking them.
Negative self-talk includes phrases such as:
- I know I can’t do this
- You’re an idiot
- Why do you even try
- I’m a failure
- Dad was right; I’m nothing but a screwup
These words aren’t positive or encouraging. These words tear you down. The worst part is you’re the one speaking these words into your life.
Imagine if you broke the bad habit of negative self-talk. What could happen?
Your self-image would improve. You wouldn’t feel the pressure to over-achieve. You may even find yourself being kinder to the people around you.
Let’s break the bad habit of negative self-talk.
Quit a comfortable routine:
We all have routines. Many of the routines we’re comfortable with. You take the same route to work; you put your clothes on the same way every day, and you even have a work routine.
These routines can make us more efficient or feel comfortable, but they can hold us back.
I think of the recent movie Jesus Revolution. When hippies began to attend his church, the pastor was confused. He didn’t understand the new people. His congregants didn’t either. The pastor eventually realized that people were getting uncomfortable in his church, and it wasn’t the new attendees.
The pastor concluded that he had failed his congregants. He had let the people become too comfortable. The routines the church-goers had established weren’t healthy.
Maybe you need to break up the routine of your daily or weekly meetings. It could be the need to shake up the office by asking employees to work from home multiple days a week.
Routines can be efficient, but they can also hold you back. Take a look at a few of your more comfortable routines and see how you can shake them up.
Quit unnecessary commitments:
Yeah, Bob… I can sign up for the weekly potluck at church. Sally, I can be there for the regular monthly kennel club meetings. Sign me up for the board of directors position for the 501c3.
I’m all in. I’m here to help everyone succeed.
Have you ever felt like this? You’re saying yes to everything. You feel like you’re helping. And you may be.
But are you hurting yourself?
When we overcommit ourselves, we begin to stretch ourselves thin. We feel as if we don’t have any breathing room. And we don’t because we’ve squeezed out every last ounce of breathing room we have in our lives.
We need to quit unnecessary commits that are draining us.
Look at your schedule. Is it filled with activities you’re dreading? Is your calendar completely booked?
If so, it’s time to reevaluate your commitments.
There’s nothing wrong with dropping off of a board, stepping aside from meetings, or choosing to forgo the potluck.
Quit a scarcity mindset:
Maybe the worst thing we need to quit is this: a scarcity mindset. What is a scarcity mindset?
According to Tabitha Kirkland, a psychologist and associate teaching professor at the University of Washington’s Department of Psychology, a scarcity mindset is when you believe there are limited resources, so if someone else has something, you feel there is less of that resource available for you.
So, when you have a scarcity mindset, you believe there are not enough resources out there for everyone to be successful. If someone else has something, you can’t have it too.
That’s the wrong way to think about it.
When I first started blogging, I had to break the mindset of scarcity. Just because my fellow bloggers were winning didn’t mean I couldn’t win. In fact, it meant I could win. Why? Because others had done it before.
When you look around you, don’t see scarcity. See abundance. See the possibilities.
Just because someone else has something doesn’t mean you can’t have it too.
Let Go To Succeed
We’ve now discovered five things we need to let go of. These things aren’t helping us, they’re hindering our ability to move forward toward success.
The age-old adage that winners never quit isn’t true. The most successful people know when to quit, how to quit, and where to pick back up.
Remember, you can quit things, especially negative self-talk, bad habits, comfortable routines, unnecessary commitments, and a scarcity mindset.
Choose to be a quitter today.
