Lombardi Was Wrong: The Positive Power of Quitting to Succeed

What If Never Quitting is Wrong?

One of the biggest mistakes we make as parents, as coaches, and as people who influence young lives is that we create an either explicit or implicit expectation that the child will never quit....anything; or that the child or teen or young adult has to get special clearance from you in order to quit.

But what if this cultural obsession with 'stick with it' was wrong? What if the very thing inhibiting success is staying with something that your heart is no longer in?

Now the truth is, we all have bad days, bad weeks, heck, bad years. But when you're on the path of your truth, when you're following your dream a bad month or year is still better than a good year at something your heart ISN'T in!

Is Quitting That Bad?

But we get so wrapped up in the belief that quitting is antithetical to being American. We get so lost in this notion that quitting is bad.

I've counseled college girls who are lost in bulimia, depression, prescription meds, and more, and all because they can't quit the things that are no longer life-giving to them.

I've counseled young men who are forever trapped in their bedroom or caught in a life of drinking sprees because they are under such duress from parents and a society that says "You gotta make money, even if you don't like the work."

To heck with that!

Give Yourself Permission to Quit What No Longer Energizes You

Y'wanna know why? Because 10 or 20 years down the line, those young adults will be coming to me for counseling, because they never gave themselves permission to cross their parents. Specifically, they never gave themselves permission to quit that which no longer breathed life into them, quit that which bled them, quit that which was just being done for the money or, worse, to please a parent or spouse.

Have the Courage to Walk Away From What is Not Your Dream

The real challenge of life is NOT found in pursuing your dreams, per se, but in having the courage to walk away from that which is NOT your dream. The challenge is not in going after what you want, but in having the guts to quit that which you don't want, that which doesn't feed your soul, that which doesn't electrify your spirit.

And the simple truth of the matter is that the earlier a kid is given permission to trust his/her own instincts and walk away from -- QUIT! -- that which doesn't inspire, that which holds no fascination, that which is not fun for him or her, the sooner that kid will come to joy. The truth is when you're on your path doing what YOU love, even on crappy days you know this is exactly where you need to be and there is no place you'd rather be.

Do You Have the Courage to Quit to Succeed?

So, the simple question is: Do you have the courage to pursue that which you love and are excited to go after........even if it means quitting that which is bleeding the life out of you?

THAT is the question!