The Upside of Quitting
By Maria Phalime
“Letting go of an old dream isn’t concession to failure but a brave act of giving birth to a new self.”
~Antonio Villoldo
Most people don’t like to think about quitting. For many it implies failure, not being good enough,
being less than, and – worst of all – a loser. From a young age we are taught to keep trying, to hang
in there, to fight to the bitter end. It’s all meant to work out in the end, right? But at what cost?
Ten years ago I was disillusioned and burned-out by my work. On the surface I was doing well – I
had qualified as a medical doctor from one of the leading medical schools in the country, had worked
in the United Kingdom as a junior doctor, and I was continuing on a path that would predictably lead
to a prestigious specialisation. Yet this glittering exterior did little to mask my inner turmoil. I was
exhausted, disillusioned and traumatised by the work I was doing in the poorly resourced healthcare
facilities in which I worked.
For months I grappled with a difficult decision. I had never been one to quit anything. I always prided
myself on my bulldog-like determination and my perseverance to see things through. Anything else
was just not an option. Yet the daily challenges I faced were eroding my enthusiasm, sapping my
energy and jeopardising my wellbeing. Ultimately I chose to walk away from clinical medicine after
just four years of practice.
For some time after I left the medical profession I would sometimes hear a tiny voice at the back of
my head pipe: “quitter!” In those moments I grappled with feelings of failure, wondering whether I
gave up too soon. But I’ve come to terms with my quitting and I celebrate the monumental decision I
made all those years ago. Walking away from my profession opened the door to a more fulfilling
chapter of my life. I am now a successful, award-winning author; I love my work and through it I am
able to express my talents and touch the hearts and minds of others. It was one of the best decisions
I ever made.
Now I’m not advocating walking away whenever the going gets tough. After all, anything worthwhile
will keep you up at night, challenge you in ways that you’d never imagined, and even scare you out of
your wits. But when your work drains your energy, detracts from what you’re really passionate about
and leaves you feeling miserable and uninspired, quitting might just be the best thing that you could
do for yourself.
Here’s my litmus test for determining whether your job or business is worth holding on to or not:
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Does it add more to your life than it takes from it? No matter how much work you put into
something, if you love it and it’s the right thing for you it will always give so much more in
return – joy, vitality, inspiration, satisfaction, material reward.
Can you imagine yourself happily in it in five years’ time? If not, why are you suffering
through it?
What’s the worst that could happen if you quit? And here I’m talking about the real worst
things like death, disease or destitution. After all, everything else we can deal with, right?