Winners know when to call it quits (2024)

It's often said that: 'Winners never quit, and quitters never win'. However, this advice isn't entirely true. Sure, you need to be persistent when chasing a goal, despite the setbacks and challenges thrown your way. But, there comes a time when it's okay to give up on a goal, and you shouldn't feel ashamed of it. The trick lies in knowing when to quit.

Think of quitting as driving from the town square to a corner store. If you suddenly realize you took a wrong turn along the way and aren't headed to the store do you speed to maintain the course? Of course, the most practical thing is to change your direction even if it means going back to your starting point. So how do you know the right to quit:

Evaluate the gains

The most common way of knowing when to quit is to evaluate whether you're making any gains or losses. For example, if you're running a business and its expenses exceed the profits for more than a year, it's time to quit. But first, you need to determine whether you have done enough to make it work. If it's a business, evaluate your marketing strategy, product or service, and business model before closing up shop.

Once you have evaluated your contribution and it's clear that you have exhausted all avenues and things are only getting worse, you can call it quits. In other cases, for example, a job, it might not be necessarily about how much you have invested in

Loss of passion

Passion is one of the most important fuels when pursuing a goal or running a business. It's common to lose passion for your business, relationship, or career. But it gets reignited after along the way as you make meaningful progress. However, prolonged losses or disappointment often lead to a loss of passion for something you once loved and enjoyed.

In some cases, passion dies out of feeling unappreciated or restless. This happens when working a day job where you probably enjoy working with your co-workers and have no qualms with your employer. But working there doesn't give you the same energy or buzz anymore. If you cannot reignite your passion and there's no reasonable expectation of an improvement in the future, then it's time to throw in the towel.

Trapped in the sunk-cost fallacy

The sunk-cost fallacy is the tendency to continue pursuing an endeavor because of the amount of effort you've already put into it. As a result, the reluctance to quit makes you unhappy, yet it's clear abandoning the endeavor would be more beneficial. As such, if you're contemplating quitting and all you can think of is the amount of time and money you've spent on the project, you're trapped in a sunk-cost fallacy. Staying on course for longer won't make things better, nor help you recover the wasted resources.

Conclusion

The courage to quit and rethink your strategies separates winners from losers. Long-term perseverance towards non-beneficial goals is a liability that leaves you unhappy and unfulfilled. Knowing when to quit and quitting early clears your physical and mental space, leaving room for you to try new fulfilling things.