On Quitting

I love pep talks. I love a good motivational speech. I love watching the moment beforethe pivotal moment in a sporting event where the coach or team captain gathers everyone together for what you know is a made-for-tv moment of inspiration. Just thinking about it gives me chills…but this week’s essay isn’t about that. In fact, it’s about the opposite thing: quitting. 

I think quitting gets a bad rap. People are always saying, “never give up”, “quitters never win and winners never quit” and when they call you a “quitter” it’s never a good thing. But quitting is incredible! Sometimes I think it’s the most grownup mature thing you can do! It isn’t always easy, it isn’t always comfortable but sometimes, it’s better than sticking it out.

Let’s start out small. Since we were young kids in school, we’ve been made to finish things: books, assignments, classes. It doesn’t matter if you’re good at them, or enjoying them, or if your teacher says you’re always goofing off in class and you’re not actually bad at math you just don’t try hard enough…maybe that one was just me… either way, you just gotta grit your teeth and finish. As an adult though, life is too short! If you’re not enjoying a book, stop reading it! If you don’t like the hobby you’re doing, quit and try a new one! If you don’t like doing math, then screw it! The teachers were wrong, we do walk around with scientific calculators in our pockets! Take that Algebra 1!

As an adult, you have agency. You don’t have to just go along with the flow or do what you think others expect of you. Obviously, there are situations where it’s much harder to quit than just putting a book back on the shelf but I know from experience (as I know many of you do, too) that sticking with something simply because of inertia isn’t always the right move.

One of the worst jobs I’ve ever had was as a production assistant (PA) on a show that none of you have ever watched. My boss was incredibly toxic and verbally abusive to all of the PAs (I got screamed at for clocking out, and then helping a writer jumpstart their car because I stayed on the lot after my shift). But, my breaking point came when one day the director, who had once been a B list actor, came into the production office and put a 70-page script in a hole-puncher that was clearly labeled, “No more than 25 pages, please. I jam!”. Of course, the hole-puncher jammed and whatever was going on in this guy’s life suddenly became too much because he SMASHED the hole-puncher into the table, full force, until it exploded sending metal shards all over the room, hitting myself and another PA. He then said, “oops, I guess it’s broken” and walked out. Our boss came in and screamed at us to clean up our mess. I quit the next day.

So, yes, gutting it out and finishing is admirable in so many situations in life, but I think that quitting can be just as inspiring!

What about you, any great quitting stories?