When To Know It's Time To Quit

Is there such a thing as the right time to quit and how do we tell that time has arrived?

But giving up, quitting on something is kind of frowned upon, isn't it?

I mean, there seems to be this popular notion in western industrialised society that to kill something that's not working is a terrible thing.

It seems there's virtue in keeping something alive that's dying.

It might bring you to your knees but by Jasus, you'd better keep trying to make it work as long as there's a breath in your body or else…

Imagine running a business.

You've put your heart and soul into it.

It's a reflection of you.

It IS you!

Something went wrong along the way and the business isn't making money any more.

But you have responsibilities to suppliers, staff, your own family and perhaps investors.

To let it die is a fate worse than death.

And some of us, our identities so caught up in the business, fail to know when the right time to quit has come and gone.

So we follow that flawed premise all the way to the edge of the bridge.

A Confusing Time

I posted this video on YouTube about a year ago.

I did so because I had something to say on this topic and it seems it resonated with some people who were in a tough place.

Here are a few comments

Thank you for this video… you're speaking my life right now… i been feeling for some time now that i need to shut down my business cos i just dont have passion for it anymore.

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Hi Larry, very accidentally came across this video, just would like to say thanks, ive have been having a hard time recently with my business I set up a few years ago, I become so emotionally invested in it and like a lot of retail businesses it has come to an end and I will be closing very soon, I have lost my passion for what I do but cant say I haven't worked my finger to the bone for it, what has made me struggle was the fact I felt/still kind of feel a failure as a human

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Good video, and I agree with you. The goal of happiness and wealth isn't defined by your current business. The decision to shut one business and to start another is Not failure in any way; it's being realistic, practical, and doing what you think is right based upon the information available at the time.

There was this other video I had seen a couple of days before, you know the ones – hyper motivational.

A well-meaning YouTuber had taken snippets of famous speeches on success and failure and arranged them in a single video.

It was of course designed to motivate but I can't help but feel that the true message from the original source became lost.

The video promoted the idea that you should never give up.

But it's such a flawed idea when taken in isolation and without context.

And that's what I wanted to talk about today.

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