I love quitting! I’ve quit jobs, careers, tasks, relationships, bands, hobbies, plans, books, habits, games, arguments, and more.

I totally love it!

I hope you love it too, because when done properly, quitting is crucial to a happy and successful life.

Contrary to what we often hear, quitting is not weak or gutless.  It’s just the opposite.  And to be honest, I’m tired of seeing people avoid quitting in the name of strength, when really what they’re often doing is hiding from fear and uncertainty.

Quitting is really just another way of saying “changing stuff that isn’t working.”

I’ve already written about the subject of quitting; three years ago when I was on staff of a shared blog called Wise & Shine (which I eventually quit). But I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately as I encounter more people who just won’t quit/change things they clearly should.

Here’s a link to the original version of that Wise & Shine post, which I called “Bad Life Advice I’m Tiring Of Hearing. And below is a new, updated version of it. Read it all or quit halfway through- whatever is best for you!

————————————————————-

I Love Quitting/ Bad Life Advice I’m Tired Of Hearing

I have a serious beef with some of our beloved inspirational sayings. It’s bad advice!  In fact, I’ve discarded it for most of my life and that seems to have worked out pretty well so far.  But, I’m tired of seeing others suffer needlessly as they cling to this nonsense.

So let’s debunk my two least favorite pieces of so-called excellent and inspirational life advice.

Bullshit Advice #1: Never Give Up/Never Quit

Although I am in favor of hanging in there and persisting when times get tough, I do not believe in “never give up/never quit”.  Sometimes you need to quit. Examples: jobs that are killing your mental or physical health; relationships that are draining instead of filling you up; activities that waste your time or keep you from doing what you love.

Quitting these things seems like a no-brainer, but I’m guessing most of us know at least 2 people who refuse to quit something they should. Maybe one of those people is us!

But we need to remember……

Nobody makes us do anything.  No situation owns us unless we let allow it to.  It might take patience, endurance and planning to get to the point where we can actually quit/make changes, but that should be the goal. We don’t get points for suffering until we break down.

Quitting is an honorable and desirable course of action, maybe even the best one.  Quitting is a powerful tool that we should not be embarrassed to use in order to improve our lives.

Bullshit Advice #2: Maintain A Singular Focus

We hear it from sports people all the time –  “that player is singularly focused on winning a championship”…. Or there’s the student who gets praised for their singular focus on academics.

I don’t consider these good things.  A singular focus is too narrow.

What if I decided to drive down the highway with a singular focus on the road directly in front of me? And what if a deer is on the shoulder of the road, and because I’m not looking for it, I can’t react in time when it jumps out in front of me?

How about the A+ employee who is singularly focused on doing the best possible job they can do, but they bring too much work home with them, miss watching their kids grow up, don’t take enough vacations, work round-the-clock, burn out and get sick.

What about the talented young athlete who is singularly focused on their sport, but misses out on wellness and the normal experiences of life?  I think Alyssa Liu’s story involves that.

Focus is good but a singular focus on anything makes us blind to everything else, eventually resulting in a negative outcome.

So to wrap this up and (hopefully) avoid becoming too “preachy”, I advise that we strive to widen our focus, experience as much of the world as we can, and leave behind/ quit everything that keeps us from living our best life.

Hey- don’t forget to read this fine print…OR……I hate self promotion but……..

For more of my writing, music, photos, etc… please see the “self promotion” center below.

Follow/subscribe to Five O’Clock Shadow for my writing and photo journals.  I’m also a writer for hire- contact me and let’s talk about your project!

I’m also a professional musician. Listen to my music on any streaming platform (Spotify, Apple, Amazon, etc.) under the following artist names:
Todd Fulginiti- cd available
The Cat’s Pajamas Old School Jazz Band- cd available
Fulginiti Family Band
Holiday Horns

For info on my live performance music events, bands and ensembles, booking, etc– visit toddfulginiti.com (there’s a blog there too for related writing).