Hello and welcome. My name is Kyle and this is How You Level Up, a podcast that decodes language
to help you become your best self. Today we ask, what does it mean to quit? If optimism,
as we reviewed in episode 182 is motion, the commitment to keep moving when outcomes are
uncertain. Then what does it mean when you stop? What does it mean when you cease to move in a
particular direction? This should be a simple question. We all know what quitting is. It's
giving up, throwing in the towel, admitting defeat. It's what people do when things get hard,
and these people are called losers. Except that's not quite right, is it? Because the entrepreneur
who closes one business to start another hasn't quit. The athlete who switches sports isn't
quitting. The writer who abandons a manuscript that isn't working hasn't quit. The person who
leaves a relationship that becomes toxic is not quitting. Or are they? We have a language problem
here when it comes to quitting. And language problems are never just semantic quibbles.
They are conceptual overlaps, causing confusion in how a term is shaped, in how we see ourselves
and our choices. Language can determine what we're ashamed of and what we're proud of.
Language can decide which paths we take and which we avoid. So let's get precise about what quitting
actually means, because until we do, we'll continue to confuse strategic adaptation with
moral failure, and we'll continue to trap ourselves in situations that no longer serve
us out of fear of a word, quitting. Alex Hermozzi is a popular motivational entrepreneur,
and he put it as such, nothing is quitting unless you stop. If you don't stop, you're only pivoting.
Words matter.
The difference between I quit my job and I pivoted in my career is not just a spin It a different understanding of what you doing One suggests cessation You were doing something now you doing nothing The other
suggests redirection. You were moving in one way, now you're moving in another, and you're still
moving. Our culture has a complicated relationship with quitting. On one hand, we worship persistence.
Winners never quit and quitters never win.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
We have variations on the theme that stopping is for the weak, the undisciplined, the uncommitted.
On the other hand, we also celebrate pivots.
We tell stories about people who had the wisdom to change course.
Steve Jobs got fired from Apple and started Next.
That wasn't quitting.
That was redirecting his creative energies.
And Apple later acquired next.
Funny turn of events.
Authors talk about having drawers full of abandoned manuscripts.
They're not quitting.
They're practicing their craft.
So which is it?
Is changing direction quitting or not?
The answer depends entirely on what you're doing when you change directions.
We use the same word quitting to mean two completely different things.
type one quitting the tactic you stop using one approach because it isn't working and you try a
different approach toward the same goal type two quitting the pursuit you stop moving toward a goal
entirely because you decided it's not worth the effort these are not the same thing not even close
the first is adaptation it's intelligence it's what professionals do constantly you quit the
marketing strategy that isn't generating leads. You quit the training program that's causing injury.
You quit the argument that's going nowhere and try a different conversational approach.
The second is actual cessation. It's the end of motion. You stop trying to build the business.
You stop training for the race. You stop working on the relationship. You exit the arena entirely.
but we call them both quitting
and in doing so
we make the first type
appear as if it is the second type we make adaptation seem like failure we make tactical flexibility seem like weakness This linguistic confusion has consequences It makes people stay in jobs they hate because
leaving feels like quitting. It makes entrepreneurs keep pouring resources into failing strategies
because changing course feels like they admit they could never build it in the first place.
the word quitting has become so loaded with shame that we'll do almost anything to avoid it
even when it's the smart move the healthy move the optimistic move
let's define our term quitting with precision then quitting is stopping motion towards something you
care about not changing path not adjusting strategy not switching tactics stopping
When you quit, you leave. You're no longer in the game. You've decided that whatever goal you
were pursuing is not worth your continued effort, and you're done trying to reach whatever it is you
were reaching for. Everything else, every change in direction, every tactical adjustment, every
strategic pivot is navigation. And navigation requires action. Action requires optimism,
remember? It requires the belief that your efforts matter, that better paths exist,
that you can work toward making things okay, even when the current approach isn't working.
Ask yourself, are you trying to get somewhere that matters to you? If yes, you haven't quit.
You might have just changed your route. You may have changed the vehicle you're inside of,
or change the timeline or your definition of what getting there looks like,
and you're still moving.
If no, you've stopped trying to get anywhere at all, then yes, you've quit.
Are you willing to turn pro at this and sacrifice other immediate pleasures
for the passion you're pursuing, possibly until the end of time?
Turning pro is the opposite of quitting.
it's the decision to stay in motion toward mastery regardless of how long it takes or how many times
you have to adjust your approach That what Hermasi means when he says that you only pivoting if you don stop The pivot is proof that you haven quit The pivot is evidence of active optimism
that you believe enough in the goal to keep trying different ways to get there.
Strategic Retreat says this position is untenable,
but the war is worth fighting for.
I'll regroup and attack from a different angle.
Surrender says, I'm done fighting.
The outcome isn't worth the effort anymore.
Notice the continued motion.
Notice the implied commitment to keep trying.
The person who has actually quit is never asking questions.
They're not looking for alternative paths.
They've stopped believing that movement matters.
And this is where we circle again to active optimism.
Optimism is the commitment to remain in motion when outcomes are uncertain.
It's the belief that your effort matters, that you can work to make things okay.
Pivoting requires optimism.
Quitting is when you think optimism has run out.
It's when you stop believing.
This is why quitting and active optimism are fundamentally incompatible.
You can't simultaneously believe your effort matters and choose to stop making effort.
You can't simultaneously commit to working to make things okay and decide to stop working towards a goal.
So here's how you know if you've quit.
Are you still moving?
The beautiful thing, the optimistic thing, is that as long as you're still moving, you haven't quit.
You've just found a different trail.
Thank you for listening to How You Level Up.
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