‘If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.’ Chinese Proverb
Based on the lessons from the Dip, here are three situations when quitting represents a sensible option:
1. If the reward sucks. You should quit if the project you’re working on has a Dip that isn’t worth the reward at the end.
2. If you’ve reached a cul-de-sac. If you’re trying to influence just one person, persistence has its limits. One person or organisation will behave differently than a market of people will; influencing a market is more of a hill than a wall. People in the market talk to each other. They are influenced by each other. So every step of progress you make actually gets amplified. The seduction of not quitting almost always come from people moving through a market. When you hear about an author who got turned down thirty times before signing with a publisher you see how persistence pays off across a market.
3. If you reach the quitting time. You should quit if the project has reached the stage where you decided in advance you were going to quit. Write down under what circumstances you’re willing to quit. And when. And then stick with it.
The time is now.
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