Quitters Often Win and Winners Often Quit!

Quitters often Win and Winners Often Quit

This misperception that Vince Lombardi promulgated on the public in the 1960s that "Quitters NEVER win and Winners NEVER Quit" like most things in sports don't translate into the real world. Even in sports their is some doubt when people like Todd Helton quit playing football (despite being drafted by Jacksonville and playing ahead of Payton Manning at TN) to play baseball for 17 years and Bo Jackson plays both and blows out his knee at 24.

But in life, there is no doubt that quitting is one of the most important attributes of success, personally and professionally. The axiom "never quit" prevents us from taking risks, changing directions and trying new things. If we cannot quit, we are less likely to be able to make decisions and start something for which we fear there will be no exit. Success is very much driven by following positively-influenced habits. But it is also driven by quiting negatively-influenced habits and even more so by putting yourself in a situation where you can quit one habit or direction in order to take another. There is no better way to pursue a path than to start down it, decide if appears worthwhile or pleasant to continue along and if not, reverse your steps to take another. Compare this with standing at the fork in the road and attempting to decide which path while considering every conceivable outcome from each choice. In the latter example you are paralyzed by indecision and in the former you potentially make a mistake and potentially achieve success. The ability to quit allows you to improve the odds because you get a preview of the choice rather than relying only on your imagination or even the subjective advice of others.  When such decisions arise, why should we risk joining a team, trying an activity or taking a job that we are not completely convinced will be the right decision if quiting is not an option?

The clearest example of the effect of "not quiting" is the Armed Services for whom the ranks have shrunk by nearly 60% in 20 years. By enlisting, your commitment for tours of duty are such that you cannot quit. Therefore, those who join fall into one of two categories. Those who are so determined and interested to be soldiers for the United States and those who have few other options. I believe most men and especially women would love an opportunity to serve our country and examine life in the military if they were at least afforded the opportunity to quit if they find the life to be more damaging than desirable. I know the common military view is that if service remained optional throughout your tour, individuals would remain committed until deployed in harms way at which time the majority would quit when the going got tough. Undoubtedly, perhaps many would do just that, but if they joined in the first place knowing such potential is likely (particularly these days) obviously many would overcome that urge to quit and serve gladly in most areas of conflict. But weigh that risk of people quiting once they enlist with the risk of having smart and able bodied individuals never enlisting in the first place. I would suggest a military with 5 million serving an average of 6-12 months (if quiting was allowed and became prevalent) would be more powerful and cost effective than the current 1 million serving for a minimum of 2 years including reluctant soldiers who cannot quit. They certainly would be mentally healthier when they do leave.

Keep in mind that Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs all quit collage. In fact almost every entrepreneur has quit a job and sometimes even a career path to pursue their dream and run companies of their own. It is unfortunate that in our society many entrepreneurs are the victims of layoffs and only out of necessity are they offered the freedom to create a company. But our society has told us for decades to "never quit" in which case one must feel disloyal or a failure before embarking on the most critical aspect of a capitalist economy. At the other end of the economic chain, consumers are asked every day to quit the brand that they currently use and switch to the latest product. Keep in mind it is important to have a well considered exit strategy when leaving any endeavor. You don't want to leap out of your seat on the descending plane only to learn you are running away from the exits. But when the consequences are well understood, the exit is near and you have your parachute, you really cannot suggest that quitters never win. My suggestion is that we remove this axiom from our society and encourage our kids to try new sports, take risks and stretch socially to meet new friends secure in the knowledge that if they don't like it or it doesn't work out:
                                                                   JUST QUIT.