I was listening to an interesting episode of Tim Ferris podcast on knowing when to quit. As also interviewed on the show, my personal favorite is Seth Godin’s “The Dip” as it connected with me right off the bat and I’ve re-read it again a number of times whenever I feel conflicted on where to go or what to do next.
For me, decision time on when to stay and go comes at your lowest moment of craptivity, when you are stuck at that low point between doing something decent (not great) BUT knowing what great is and desperately wanting to get there. You’ve had some big wins that spurned you into continuing on but the shine is starting to fade.
Many people equate this to the feeling of – “I don’t really like my current job, but today was amazing, so everything is changing and I’ll keep going because it is going to work out now” – and maybe it will, which is fantastic. The corner has been turned and everyone is moving forward in unison.
And then a bad day comes, kicking you off your perch and all those emotions of staying or going comes back – “I’M OUTTA HERE”.
I don’t know or can’t say which is right. I can say that when you start to feel that nagging voice in the back of your head suggesting it’s time to give up, you write it down – notepad, moleskinned notebook, napkin – whatever and you focus what you write down on three things.
- What’s the Date?
- What are you feeling?
- What do you want to do?
Next time you feel great or have the same feelings, write them down again. Keep doing it for a month, then look back at the data – do the goods outweigh the bad? Is how you are feeling really beneficial to your growth?
If not, time to go, if so, time to stay.
Take the emotion out of it and look at the data.
