Quitters never prosper is something we all heard a thousand times growing up. It circulates daily on motivational posts propagated on Facebook. It is part of a worldview that many people have accepted and is simply not true.

The largest corporations in the tech world were founded by quitters, Microsoft, Apple, Dell … just to name a few. Jerry Seinfeld was lauded for going out at the top and started a trend in successful sitcoms.

What did Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs and Jerry Seinfeld have in common? They had mature Quitters. They did not quit for pedantic reasons or because they were angry or because they were afraid of the unknown; they quit because they did not see their actions serving the things they wished to do.

What are the paths you have started down that are no longer serving you? What is it that you are afraid to face if you quit? What is it costing you to keep those activities on life support?

As an exercise, grab a pen and find a quiet place where you won’t be overly distracted or interrupted and identify as just that aspect of you that can quit. If this makes no sense to you, say to yourself, or write it at the top of the paper, ‘I am the Quitter, these are the truths of the Quitter and not the truths of Pete, Bill, Mary …’ now jot down what comes up from the questions above.

Just ignore the ‘yeh buts’, this is just the ‘whole’ trying to jump in, which is its nature. Just return to the sole aspect of the Quitter and let it speak its truth.

Repeat this exercise a few times to get past the large and obvious. Having clear insight into what is brewing under the surface will diffuse amazing amounts of frustration and confusion.

This is just a first step; further clarification of what you really want will lead to solutions and actions. Pete, Bob and Mary would not be where they are today if they were not capable of being good problem solvers given clear data.

May your life go well