“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” – Vince Lombardi
Hard truth – most people will quit on their goals, dreams, and desires.
They’ll start off strong, and go all out to achieve their goals for a few weeks or a month. Then they’ll get tired and their enthusiasm will fizzle out… and they’ll throw in the towel.
This is VERY common. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it is. Just look at your local gyms in January. They’ll be packed with people who set a New Year’s resolution to get fit.
By March, the same gyms will be empty and the only people you see there will be the regulars… who have always been there. The masses have quit.
For you to achieve success in business, quitting must NEVER be an option. The only time you quit is if what you’re doing is not in alignment with your goals, and you have new goals.
You should not quit for any other reason. To develop a quit-proof mindset, you must first know why people quit. Once you understand the reasons why you can steer clear of these pitfalls.
Winning is a mental game. To win it, you must realize that quitting is a mindset issue and must be fixed by reframing your thoughts.
- Expect quick results
Success takes time. You can’t get rich overnight. You can’t drop 20 kilograms in a week. Unrealistic expectations will lead to a lack of patience. When you see that results are slow to come, you’ll get dejected and quit because you think that what you’re doing is not working.
In reality, it’s working… but you need more time. Give yourself the time to let your efforts yield fruit.
- Think it will be easy
If it was that easy, everybody would do it. A successful business, a fit body, a loving relationship, and other worthy goals ALWAYS require work… constant work. It never ends.
That’s the way things are. If you’re not progressing, you’re regressing. Very often, people underestimate just how much work is required or the immense struggle they’ll need to go through just to achieve their goals.
But that’s what makes it all worthwhile. So, embrace the pain, accept the fact that it will be difficult, and keep moving forward.
- Carry too many regrets
You can’t discover new lands if you won’t lose sight of the shore. Your regrets are holding you back. Let them go. The past is over. The present and future are where miracles can happen.
Have the courage to wash your hands of the past and strive for a better life in the future. If you keep regretting your past mistakes, you’ll feel discouraged and quit. Avoid this downward spiral at all costs.
- Have an entitlement mentality
If you think the world owes you a living, you’ll be waiting for eternity to get what’s yours. You’ll quit easily because you think that you deserve better. Or the system is unfair. Or you’re disadvantaged and others should make exceptions for you.
That’s not how you win. It’s how you quit. To be a winner, you need to go out there and get what’s yours. Stake a claim on success and do everything in your power to get a slice of it.
- Woe is me
Feeling sorry for yourself will not help you progress. You may have been dealt a bad hand. Life may be unfair… and it often is. But if you feel sorry for yourself, this negative mental state will not encourage you to keep going.
Accept any negative outcome and keep going forward. The sweetness of success can mitigate the bitterness of countless failures you encountered on the journey. In fact, it’s the hard times that will make the end reward that much sweeter.
- Burnout
Pace yourself. The journey is long. If you go too hard too soon, you’ll experience burnout… and quit because it seems too difficult. Aim to make measurable progress in a reasonable time.
Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard.
- Fear pain and failure
If you’re scared of pain and failure, you’ll quit the moment things get tough. Most people don’t even start because they’re scared of failing. By doing so, they’ve failed by default.
Understand that the journey to achieving any goal will be tiring and painful, if not physically, then mentally. You’ll make mistakes and encounter several failures along the way. In fact, most successful people fail their way to success.
There is no linear progression here. It’s a mess… but that’s the way it is. So don’t quit because you fear pain or failure. You need them to succeed.
- Resistance to change
You’ll be required to shift your mindset and make changes in your life to get to where you want to go. If you wish to become wealthy, you might have to go from working for a boss to being your own boss.
Make that change, but do it wisely. You might be required to wake up earlier to get more work done. You might have to cut out activities like watching TV and going to social events because you have tons of work.
It may not be pleasant, but these necessary changes will help to elevate your business and life. Accept the changes and go with the flow. Once things get better, you can find balance in your life.
Don’t quit just because the changes demanded of you are stuff that you don’t like to do. As they say, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.
These are some of the most common reasons why people quit. Now that you’re aware of the insidious nature of these reasons, avoid falling prey to them and never quit no matter how hard it gets.
The moment when you want to quit is the moment when you must endure and keep going. It’s always darkest before the dawn. Stay on course and the light will break through the clouds and success will be yours.
