Sometimes Quitting Is the Most Important Thing You Can Do
It is okay to redefine your capacity. You are going to grow and evolve through life circumstances, through realizing more of who you are. What you could handle two months ago may not make sense for who you are today. Maybe the bravest choice you could make is to walk away. Maybe trying harder won’t get you through this one.
In his book, The Dip, Seth Godin says, “Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.”
We are in a moment of epic shift. The world as we know it is changing. The old ways no longer serve as a substitute for what this moment requires of us. Adapt or cease to exist.
If you stick with some things despite the resistance, despite the screaming voice inside of you telling you to get out, despite the red flags, you will be taking away from what is your ultimate purpose. You will be taking energy from what you are truly supposed to be contributing through your work and your presence.
You are choosing a life that will allow you to give the best of yourself to the people around you. By disappointing them in the short term, by admitting you can’t do it all, by choosing what you want over expectations others have of you, the way is being made.
In her article published in the Harvard Business Review, Melody Wilding provides an in-depth look at how we can gracefully back out of a commitment if we have over-extended ourselves or reached our limits.
“Use this as a learning opportunity to build greater discernment around what you do—or don’t—agree to in the future,” Wilding says. “Going forward, try to say yes only to opportunities that excite you, and ones you have room for.
They will understand. Years later, they will thank you for leaving. They will thank you when they are reading your book, when they are coming to you for advice, when they are benefiting from the life that you built in its absence. They will thank you for the fact that you listened to the still small voice.
This is how you make the path. All you need to do is be faithful to what is meant for you.
Take care of yourself as you close this chapter. Grieve what you are leaving behind. Be gentle with yourself as you tie up the loose ends and set yourself free.