The Power of Quitting

“ Quitters never win. Winners never quit.” Vince Lombardi- NFL hall of fame coach

When most people picture a quitter, who do they think of? I remember my math teacher last year was talking about a childhood story where he was overwhelmed with schoolwork while attempting to play a sport at the same time. As he began to struggle in school his father said to him “ It’s OK to quit.” The idea of being labeled as a quitter terrified and motivated him to continue pushing, because nobody wants to feel the humiliation associated with quitting. But why are people so afraid to give up, even if it is something that they don’t like or don’t feel that they will ever need? The answer is simple. American society is built on the shoulders of those who didn’t quit. The United States would still be part of England if the colonists had quit in their struggle for independence. Michael Jordan got cut from the varsity basketball team at his high school. If he had given up at that moment, there would be no air Jordan, and Nike would probably have been out of business years ago. American culture teaches us all to believe that, if we quit, we are weak hearted and not mentally strong enough to proceed and take a little pain. 

I am offering a different perspective on the idea of quitting. But before I proceed, I must first make a crucial distinction between the two types of quitting. The first form of quitting is when you give up on yourself before you have made a concerted effort to succeed. I do not condone this practice, as it simply demonstrates a lack of perseverance and mental toughness. The other type of quitting is completely different. Here, you have expended all that you could in a particular discipline, and you realize that you do not want to pursue that area of focus anymore. I believe that, when people hear that someone “quit”, they automatically associate that person with the first type of quitting, that he or she is someone who does not have the willpower and the drive to continue.

However, quitting is not necessarily a measure of weakness in a person. If somebody is dissatisfied with his job, he should be able to quit. It is not beneficial for society to encourage members of the workforce to keep their jobs, even when it makes them feel frustrated and unhappy. I understand that there are some people who cannot quit their jobs even if they wanted to and had the courage to do so, but there are others who continuously slave year after year at the same boring occupation because they are afraid to quit and move their life in another direction. The economic idea of “sunk cost” is important when attempting to provide a concrete answer as to why so many people are reluctant to quit, even if there are better alternatives. Sunk costs are the investments made in pursuit of a goal. Money, time, effort, and sacrifices are all included in the principle of sunk cost. Some people have sacrificed so much in order to maintain their current unsatisfying lifestyle that they feel that quitting would make all of that time, effort, and money a waste. Therefore, even if they don’t like what they are doing, they refuse to quit because they have already given up so much to be where they are.

I believe that we, as Americans, have an obligation to rewrite the stereotype that the quitter is somebody who will never come out on top. Every person will encounter a situation during their life where they are unhappy with their current status and they feel that their position isn’t one that is worth staying in. It is important for people to realize that quitting is a viable option. It may not be the option that your friends would choose. It may not be the choice parents that your parents think is best for you. But if you feel that quitting would enhance the quality of your life, then I wholeheartedly encourage you to quit.