It’s the 28th of January which means it’s national “Quit your resolution” day!
(I made this up but actually 80% of people fail their resolutions by February so…close enough)
I have to start by saying that I believe in the power of quitting. As a perpetual starter, as someone who wants to do ALL THE THINGS, I know that quitting is sometimes exactly what I need. In order to make room for something new, you basically have to start saying “No” to something that you are currently doing. Unfortunately, time is a limited resource and we are all currently using all 24 hours of the day.
(Sorry for the bait and switch but “Quit sometimes, and pivot the rest of the time” doesn’t have the same ring to it)
Quitting
It is frustrating when a goal doesn’t turn out the way you expected. At the time of goal setting, we do our best to set the goal in a way that will lead to our success but it’s impossible to accurately predict all the side effects of a goal.
Sometimes things just don’t work out. In those scenarios, quitting can become the smartest thing to do.
Our culture views quitting negatively. To be called a quitter is not a good thing. But I believe that quitting should have no more negative emotion associated with it than starting since it’s just the flip side of starting.
Conversely, there are times when we are pursuing a worthwhile goal that the journey becomes difficult and we may want to quit. Quitting because a goal is difficult is not a good reason to quit IMHO, this is when pivoting comes in.
Jim Rohn said “Don’t wish it was easier wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge wish for more wisdom”.
When you should quit:
- The goal is no longer in alignment with what you want. Our values and desires can change. Sometimes people will hold themselves accountable for a goal that doesn’t even align anymore with what they want.
- The goal becomes highly stress inducing. It is possible to develop negative emotions around a goal leading to a lot of stress and/or negative self-talk. Lisa Nichols says, “Your goal should stretch you, not stress you”. Don’t let your desire to complete something get out of hand. It may be better to put it away for awhile instead of trying to pivot and force yourself to keep going.
Here are a few of the goals I’ve quit over the years:
–My 2016 goal to make $1 online (apparently $1 isn’t a very motivating number of dollars for me).
–My 2019 goal to do 24 hikes (quit in September after only completing 3 hikes, basically just “quit” to give myself permission to stop beating myself up about not achieving this goal)
When you should pivot:
- Unreasonably difficult – The goal was honestly unrealistic to start with. If I tried to go from paying $100 per month towards debt to paying $2000 per month towards debt, I’d probably be setting myself up for failure. Be kind to yourself and give yourself the flexibility to make a goal attainable after accounting for real life.
- Goal not accomplished by deadline – “There are no unrealistic goals, only unrealistic deadlines.” ~ Brian Tracy. If you had planned to have your debt paid off by now, and if it is a worthwhile goal for you, it is better to pivot than quit it.
Here are a few of the goals I’ve pivoted:
–My goal to eat 2 servings of raw vegetables and 2 servings of raw fruit everyday (ended up with digestive issues from all the raw fiber). Pivoted this goal into “Eat two servings each of fruit and vegetables per day, one raw and one cooked” which worked much better for me.
–Run 1000 KM in 12 months. Pivoted into “run 1000 kilometers in 13 months”.
How to pivot
Reflect-Identify what is working and what isn’t. Taking some time to reflect increases clarity and helps us pivot to something more effective.
Identify intention-Identify the “why” behind the goal and pick a different goal that will support that intention. If running 10 miles per day every day isn’t working for you, signing up for a dance class may be a way to work towards your intention of “getting in shape” that is more fun and therefore easier to stick with.
Make it smaller– Cut the goal in half, cut the goal into quarters, cut the down to just 2 minutes of activity if you need to. Small progress in the right direction is infinitely better than no progress.
Extend the deadline– I extended the deadline of my goal to run 1000 kilometers. It end up taking me 13 months to run the distance instead of 12 but I’m glad I extended it instead of giving up because I can tell you for sure, I wouldn’t have ran at all that January if I wasn’t still working on the goal. This can a slippery slope of extending then extending then extending, but if you have set an unrealistic deadline, extending ensures that we are still making progress and don’t just give up a worthwhile goal because it is taking longer than expected.
For Discussion:
What’s a goal that you have pivoted?
For additional inspiration:
