No Mas: Why It’s Okay To Quit
By: Michael Woronko
Tags: Sports, Life Lessons, Motivation, Productivity, Self Improvement

We’re always told to not give up. To push and follow through, to see things to their end. It’s become a timeworn staple in the side of all growing pains, a Hollywood trope and the centerpiece of all great stories — to never surrender, to fight on, to never back down.

But is it actually sensible advice?

We humans are very calculated folk. We ceaselessly employ cost-benefit analyses that effectively shed unnecessary weight and obligation in our day to day operations. As much flak as we give ourselves, we’re rather remarkable.

In our modern and technical existence, we have capabilities available to us today that had been unfathomable yesterday — we can start businesses on a moments whim without pouring our life savings into them, without devoting all of our time and energy. We can multi-task like never before, expand into any field of interest. We can undertake any new hobby that we so wish, embark upon any new avenue of learning and commit to endless varieties of discovery.

One drawback to this modern era — our attention spans have dwindled tremendously. Our conviction has been jeopardized, our commitment curtailed and our devotion inhibited. Such is the way of an always-on, dynamic and fast-paced society.

In other words, modernity has brought with it waves of unlimited potential, shattering limits and opening new echelons of options that we never thought we’d have. For the most part, we can do anything we want, move where ever we want to be, embark upon whatever we want to do and learn anything we want to know. But how do we come to know what we want?

Naturally, we navigate the labyrinthine of options with a machete — cutting out a trail that’s most suitable to us but, also, cutting out options that don’t necessarily fall in line with our vision. In consequence, the act of quitting, today, doesn’t mean the same thing that it did yesterday.

Of course, there are certain things and certain endeavors that we ought to unwaveringly stick by. There are times in life where devotion, commitment and follow-through should be placed above all else. But, under a paradigmatic modern context, we’re seeing the emergence of a new way to function amidst countless mediums, ventures and enterprises.

Under this new paradigm, we should be empowered in trying new things and bailing on whichever projects don’t work for us, without any semblance of guilt or admonishment. It’s not the way our ancestors may have done things but it’s possibly the best way to land on the proper opportunities. Though there’s a catch.

“I’ll think, if this is his first punch, how are the others gonna feel? That’s the only fear I have for myself.” — Sugar Ray Leonard

We should take somber note of every instance whereby we quit. We should consider it as a punch — though not a knockout — and as something to learn from, something to take seriously. So long as resignation doesn’t become a habit and so long as we rely upon this ejector-seat sparingly, wisely and sensibly — there’s no reason we shouldn’t feel allowed to do so.

In other words, to not become a habitual quitter. To not back down, yes, unless we realize that cutting our losses amidst a myriad of options may be the most sensible approach. Because that’s one thing that we have today that we didn’t seem to have yesterday — an infinitude of options.