Filed under: Integrity
I am the type of person that rarely quits things. This is not to say that I have never quit before. I think most people have quit something in their lives at some point. As I have grown older, I admit that there are times when quitting can be a good thing. In fact, there may be something in your life that you should quit doing right now. I’m not talking about obvious things like smoking or drinking. I’m talking about situations where you have banged your head so hard against the competitive wall that you have bruised your Spirit. How smart is that? How wise is that? Is it possible that we can actually try too hard sometimes? I know this may be a little bit too uncomfortable for you to read right now. I understand, because I am a bit uncomfortable writing it. Can you believe it? Intense leadership coach suggests that quitting can be good. Let’s explore this idea a bit further.
One of the people I admire a great deal in history is Winston Churchill. I think he was a wise man and obviously had the deep respect of his own country and showed the maturity of a statesman at times of crisis. He also once said “never, never, never, never give up” to which I say – that is ludicrous. While I realize I am taking Churchill’s quote out of context, I want you to consider the times in history where the very best course of action would have been to quit. Sometimes in history we didn’t even know what we were fighting for and we kept fighting. The concept of “never giving up” is blind thinking and will lead to pretentious leadership. A great leader must be willing to evaluate a situation and consider alternatives choices and actions, which may at times include giving up – reevaluating and starting fresh. I think this is especially true in our modern age of leadership. Things are not as predictable today as they were 25 years ago. Oftentimes an existing business direction can change in a matter of moments in our global economy. Leadership this day and age requires flexible neutrality and the Self Esteem to say “I quit.”
How does this apply in your life? When have you held on so tight to a life or business decision that the only reason you continued was the fear of retaliation or because you feared others would accuse you of being a quitter. Obviously there are many times in life that staying the course reaps tremendous rewards. I think that is true – provided you are on the right course. But what if you are on a golf course and you hate golf? If it were me, I would stop trying to make a hole in one and get out my fly rod. Many of us are playing life games that we aren’t enjoying at all. We do it because we are influenced by our parents, our bosses, or by our own guilt trip. Being negatively influenced by others and by guilt will almost never work. It’s very painful; not to mention that your precious life is too short.
Sometimes getting distance from a precarious situation can offer a great gift. Sometimes we are afraid to look at the reality of a situation because the reality is more painful than the illusion. Don’t do this to yourself, as eventually integrity can become soft as corn mush. I am not recommending that you are lazy and that you quit something simply because it is hard. I am talking about loving yourself and those around you enough to be honest about the situations you find yourself in. I have seen many people stay in a jobs they hated for years because they were afraid to quit. What are these people avoiding?!
Once you have assessed quitting something, you can always go for integral alignment. That means you don’t have to lie about why you are quitting and you can do your best to negotiate quitting terms that serve all parties. Quitting does not make you a loser. It’s like a champion athlete that quits the race because he broke his ankle. He is still a champion and his leg needs to heal before he starts the next race. I have felt inspired by watching other courageous people wisely make a choice to quit. One of my friends quit his marketing job to become a yoga teacher. He loves it. He is a leader in the yoga community. He was not a leader as a marketing director. He was a slave to the choice he made many years before. Let this message illumine us as Life and Business Leaders – to see that our accountability to being completely honest about our life situations is freedom. The freedom bell rings for all of us when one of us quits something unhealthy to begin something wonderful.
As a leader the most important person you will ever answer to is yourself. Answering to you will require rigor at times. It will require disengagement of those unhealthy situations to embrace life more fully. There is one situation I recommend never quitting. That is to quit on YOU! Keep on stepping and learning. Be willing to use everything to continue growing. In a real way quitting can be a beginning. It can be a beginning filled with enthusiasm and excitement. Listen carefully as you choose. Take care to act with love to those around you. I can promise you – your life will be enhanced and so will the lives of those around you.
Let freedom ring.
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The Get Real Blog 
stephen, what a thought you have put one quitting,
Comment by ashok December 27, 2009 @ 3:21 amall these days i felt guilt inqutting my job and the business i did not like, then i started my passionate training people , now i am totally fulfilled by your version of quitting,thanks a lot