When Stopping Makes Sense (and when you need to get back to work)

I’m all about committing and being relentless about pushing through tough situations no matter what comes up. Stopping because something is hard, you are tired, you don’t feel well, or it isn’t fun is unacceptable. Collect yourself and get back to work.

That said, there is one situation in which stopping makes sense: When you realize what you are doing doesn’t match your goal.

I had a conversation with Amanda yesterday about her daily project this month. (We each do daily projects each month.) We dug into why it wasn’t going so well and it turns out that the daily actions she decided to take weren’t having the outcome she expected. It wasn’t coming anywhere near fulfilling her overall goal of building her personal brand.

In situations like this, sticking with it just to check off that box or say you kept your commitment doesn’t make sense. In fact, it hurts because you are wasting valuable time.

When you run into a situation like this, pivot. Find something that better matches your goal (or problem you are trying to solve) and pivot immediately. Amanda came up with a new project that she is starting tomorrow.

Take a step back, clear your head, analyze the situation, and pick the best path forward. Don’t keep doing something that isn’t useful just because you don’t want to look like a quitter.

Be honest with yourself, though: Is your original plan really not advancing your goal, or is it just harder than you expected? If you are feeling some resistance, you might just need to push harder.