“What’s the point?”
“I just feel like I’m working harder than ever and nothing’s working.”
“It’s just not worth it.”
Maybe you feel like this. Time to throw in the towel, pull up the stakes, and move on.
No Longer Feeling Motivated?
There’s nothing wrong with quitting.
In reviewing my career, I realize I’ve Quit So Many Times, I could be labeled a quitter. But I always seemed to know when it was time to move on and try something new.
There are two schools of thought. One says, “When you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.”
It’s as if quitting is a decision to be feared and never faced intentionally, with purpose and resolve.
And then there’s Arianna Huffington who walked away from HuffPost to create Thrive, an organization about doing less with more resolve.
Quitting is just ending a story that isn’t working for you.
But that doesn’t make it easy to do, especially if you’ve got an inner narrator that judges you for walking away.
Quitting on something – a job, a relationship, a goal – brings up questions of value, effort, self-worth, and identity.
But how helpful is it to hang on to something you no longer value?
When I departed the corporate world to launch my own business, I had no idea of what would come next.
I only knew that if I stayed, I’d get more of the same. And yet, I felt like I was walking away with work unfinished, even as I felt the pull in other directions.
I admitted this to a former colleague. We had struggled together. While I walked, he chose to stay.
I told him I admired his perseverance whereas I had petered out and dropped out.
And he replied with such a sense of humanity.
“You didn’t drop out,” he said. “You graduated.”
I had never thought of it that way.
What a brilliant way to reframe the narrative.
Give yourself permission to move on from anything that no longer serves you, satisfies you, or grows you in meaningful ways.
Onwards, to something bigger and better. Or, smaller and more sufficient.
You’re not giving up. You’re graduating.
Valerie Gordon is a lifelong storyteller, a former 10x Emmy-winning TV producer, and the founder of The Storytelling Strategist. She speaks at conferences and works with corporations to help audiences and clients harness the power of story for career success. Schedule a discovery call to learn more about training and coaching opportunities.