When was the last time you QUIT something?
Quitting tends to get a bad reputation. Perhaps this is because in a world shaped by hustle culture, perseverance and grit are admired, while doing the opposite (quitting) is often seen as a lack of discipline or commitment.
However, I’ve come to realize that quitting isn’t the real problem. The real issue is that we don’t talk enough about discernment: how to recognize when something is no longer worth our time and energy, and how to let go without framing it as failure.
Time and energy are our most valuable resources, so if you’re spending them on less than ideal activities (things that are merely “fine” or “good enough”), it’s not the most optimal use of your resources. The goal is to create space for the things that are the best use of your attention, and that often requires letting go of the things that aren’t.
This topic came up recently during a podcast interview. I was talking about growing up with the freedom to experiment – trying different extracurriculars, following interests, seeing what stuck. The host asked how I didn’t turn into a quitter if I was always hopping from one thing to the next, which is an understandable question but the truth is that I’ve never been a quitter and my challenge has actually been the opposite.
One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn is knowing when to loosen my grip on things, even (and especially) those that I’ve worked hard for, or things I thought I should want. This type of discernment takes time, and it’s still something I practice. It requires stepping back from the thing itself and asking: “is this really the best use of my time?” or “is this really what I want?”. Seemingly simple questions, but knowing when to pause and get out of autopilot long enough to ask and answer honestly isn’t easy. Maybe you have experienced moments like this yourself.
Here’s a simple example. If you start reading a book and realize partway through that you’re not enjoying it, what do you do? Do you put it down, or do you push through to the end?
For a long time, I always pushed through until the end. If I committed to something – a book, a half marathon, a job, a relationship – I saw it through, even when it stopped being enjoyable or beneficial. Of course there are good intentions behind this mindset – having integrity and seeing things through matter. Sometimes the “sunk cost fallacy” also comes into play, where you’ve invested time and effort and even identity into something, it makes walking away from it difficult. What we often fail to consider is the opportunity cost: the value of the best alternative you’re giving up by staying.
Walking away when something is no longer serving you doesn’t mean avoiding difficulty. It’s important to be able to distinguish between the things that are hard and aligned and those that are hard because they’re simply out of alignment (see my post on aligned vs. misaligned hard).
Returning to the book example: pushing through a book you don’t care about usually results in disengaged reading so the information probably won’t stick, and your attention (finite, valuable) is spent poorly. On the other hand, if you “quit” the book and redirect your time and attention to something you genuinely want to read, the outcome improves significantly: you’ll be more engaged, retain more, or at the very least you’ll enjoy the experience.
The same dynamic shows up everywhere in life: in careers, projects, goals, and relationships.
To be clear, this isn’t an argument for flakiness, laziness, or a lack of follow-through. It’s an argument about being intentional with your time and energy so that you can direct them toward the things that matter most and move the needle the furthest.
Learning to quit is an ongoing practice. It requires paying attention, periodically stepping back, honestly assessing a situation, and being willing to change course when something no longer fits. It’s not easy, and it sometimes means disappointing other people, or even disappointing a past version of yourself. But staying in situations that aren’t aligned or don’t support your growth also carries a cost too. So when something no longer feels worth your time or energy, it’s okay to walk away. What matters is that you choose deliberately and intentionally to live in alignment with your highest potential.
Let me know in the comments below: what’s something that you’ve quit or that you feel you need to quit?
