Knowing when to quit what is not working

BY DANIEL COLE

I have watched tons of interviews of highly successful men. I have conducted interviews with successful entrepreneurs and culture shapers across the world. Over the years, I have always wondered what has been the most difficult decisions for them to take in their entrepreneurial or success journey, and finally, I find out that, is knowing when to call it quits for what is not working.

You’ve probably read Thomas Edison’s famous quote, that, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”  Well, I have realized over the years; that in certain contexts and scenarios, “Giving up” may be the best decision to take, but the problem is knowing when the time is right. Overly simplified quotes without context can be very misleading. Life should not be lived based on bumper sticker wisdom or seemingly intellectual short phrases. Life is more complex than that. Grit has its place, doggedness, resolve, resolute, and courage all have their place in the pursuit of any dream, but to keep going when you are not getting the right results is not only disingenuous but misappropriation of resources and dissipation of energy.

Over the years, I have stuck to certain practices, to take time out every three months to take inventory of things. To critically access what I give my waking hours to and the current and potential return, both short-term and long-term. Socrates has rightly said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” You don’t pursue a dream for the sake of pursuit; you pursue a dream because it is noble, rewarding, and fulfilling. You don’t pay for a gym membership every month to put on pounds of muscle to impress the lady next door, such goals may be appealing in our teenage years, but as we age, and become more mature, as we take up more life responsibilities, we realize that the real goal of exercise or work-out is just to stay fit and healthy.

How would you know when it’s time to let go of a pursuit? Or how would you know when it’s time to change your approach in the pursuit of a dream? Oftentimes, people fail in life not because their cause is not noble enough; but because they are not flexible with their approach or methodology to win. Nelson Mandela alongside others did not just win the Apartheid because they fought with sticks and stones; Nelson Mandela studied law, he understood the illegality of the Apartheid system. Sometimes, you need to rise to the intellectual level of your adversaries to really win a battle worth fighting. If the goal or the dream is noble enough and the results are not forthcoming, take a second look at your approach. You are only obliged to be loyal to the dream, not the method of execution.

On the other hand, there are some pursuits that aren’t worth the effort. Even if you win, it is of no lasting consequence. See, given the brevity of life, we can only do so much. Take time out to take a critical look at what you do. Do the results commensurate with the effort? What would it mean even if you win? To what end is this “battle?” To what end is this effort? Don’t go through life blindly motivated. Quit what is not serving you right. No matter how fast you travel on the wrong road motivated, it will never take you to the right destination. Improvise methods if need be, but most importantly, if it is not working, how much resources, energy, and time will you keep investing/wasting in it.

Sometimes in life, the way forward is backward. If you need to start again more intelligently, then start again. But for the next three months of the year, make sure you are not dissipating energy to something of no lasting consequence.