1 – You’ll Lose All The Momentum You Built Up Over The Last Weeks, Months, And Years.
When you look back and see all the time sacrifices you made, all the books, products, and courses you bought and used, and what you put yourself through, giving up now means that all of that didn’t matter.
Imagine going back to the younger version of you and telling them that what they’re about to do doesn’t matter. – There’s a reason you put yourself through all that, dust that reason off and look at it again. That’s your North Star. Fall in love with that reason and keep going.
2 – You’re Never Back At Square Even After A Failure.
If I went out the front door today and walked a mile in the wrong direction, I’d probably be a mile in the wrong direction, but I’m sure I would have learned something from that experience.
I could discover that I’m in the worst shoes for walking. I could meet someone (or ended up in a place) that I probably would never have if I’d gone the right way. And knowing that new knowledge means that that journey wasn’t a waste.
You could look at what’s gone wrong as a reason to quit and that it was a waste of your time. But if you look at it again, you’ll see that you’ve come away with a new skill, new knowledge, more confidence, or met new people from doing that thing. – So that person that’s back on square one, isn’t the same person who set off on that journey.
3- It’s Better To Pivot Than Stop
I don’t know if you’ve ever pushed a car, but if you have you’ll know how hard it is to get it going. In the beginning, it takes all your effort to get the wheels to move just move an inch. But the longer you keep at it, the momentum kicks in and before you know it takes a lot less effort to keep it rolling along.
The same can be said of what you’ve just done. It’s always harder in the beginning. It’s always harder to write. It’s always harder to podcast. It’s always harder to get people to notice you in the beginning. But then there comes a time when you reach a sweet spot, where everything gets easier, it takes less effort, and more people start flocking to you.
You may be in the early pushing stage, and for you to give up now, means you’ll be pushing a stationary car again that is going to require the maximum effort of you again. Could you do that? Could you go through starting off from scratch again?
An easier option would be to use the momentum you have and just turn the steering wheel a little. Try a new direction. Create a different product. Speak to a new audience. Find another niche.
Remember, it’s easier to push a moving car in a new direction than to try and do it when it’s stationary.
4 – Quitting Leads To More Quitting
If you quit now, the second time will get easier. The third time, probably easier still. Each time you do, you’re telling yourself that you’re a person who gives up when the going gets tough. So whenever the going gets tough in the future, it makes it easier to look back at when you did it in the past and just copy that action. ‘You’re a quitter, and that’s what quitters do,’ you tell yourself.
Quitting not only affects you but the people around you. The sacrifices they made. The money that you used. The kids that look at you as an example. There are sometimes when quitting is the best option, but is this the time?
5 – The Best Stories Have The Best Struggles.
The stories that we gravitate toward are the ones where people overcome struggles, where they do things they didn’t think possible of themselves, the rags to riches, and the underdog winning against the odds. There’s no fun in someone waking up and finding it all sitting on the end of the bed.
There’s a reason why a lottery win is never as fulfilling as making the money yourself. We feel like we cheat, that we don’t deserve it, that it came too easily. But when we earn that top spot, get the result, we look at ourselves in a different light. We did the thing that needed to be done, we showed up, we took the risk and it paid off, those moments are a lot sweeter than everything working out perfectly.
The struggle you may be going through may be tough, but imagine the story you’ll be able to tell when you finally succeed. Now that’s a story that people will want to listen to.
