{"id":873,"date":"2009-05-07T08:57:52","date_gmt":"2009-05-07T16:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/"},"modified":"2013-08-20T11:17:44","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T19:17:44","slug":"knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

Have you ever started a project or activity, ground away at it for hours\/weeks\/years, and wanted to just give up? Sometimes, you know you need to push past temporary difficulties or discomfort in order to get where you want to be. But sometimes, you feel as though you\u2019re chasing after a worthless goal or outcome. Your interest and enthusiasm have hit rock-bottom, and you just want out.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s probably stopping you, though, is the time, money or energy you\u2019ve already invested in this activity. It might be something quite trivial:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve read 100 pages of this (very tedious) novel: you might as well finish it.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You bought a packet of not-so-great cookies, but you don\u2019t want to waste the money, so you decide to eat them all
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You started writing a poem which you\u2019re not getting anywhere with. You\u2019ve spent three hours on it, and you feel like it would be a waste of time to give up now.<\/p>\n

Or your activity might be something huge \u2013 something where quitting it would mean quite a big change in your life:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve been following a particular career path for six years, and you\u2019re increasingly feeling that it\u2019s \u201cnot you\u201d.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Your relationship with your boyfriend\/girlfriend has been deteriorating for some time, but you\u2019ve been together for three years.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve spent most evenings for the past four years playing World of Warcraft, but you\u2019re starting to lose interest in the game \u2013 and you\u2019re wishing you had all those hours back.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For seven years, you\u2019ve been writing a novel. The feedback from writing friends is … polite, at best. Re-reading it, you\u2019re not sure it\u2019s so great yourself. You\u2019re also sick of working on it. But you don\u2019t want to lose all the time you\u2019ve put in…
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve been spending a small fortune on vitamin pills and dietary supplements. But you\u2019re not noticing any real difference after six months, and a nutritionist friend says you really don\u2019t need them. You think of giving up \u2013 but then you\u2019d be admitting that you\u2019ve wasted hundreds of dollars.<\/p>\n

Whether your activity is a trivial one or a huge one, don\u2019t stick with it because of the time or money you\u2019ve already put in. That time\/money is gone: you\u2019ll never have it back. What you can recover, though, is the future time or money you\u2019d otherwise be spending on something you don\u2019t really want.<\/p>\n

Quit Leisure Activities That Are No Longer Fun<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a teen, I spent several hours every day playing a small online role playing game. When I eventually realised that the game had become less engaging (lots of players had left) and that I\u2019d grown and moved onto new interests, I was reluctant to quit. I felt that I\u2019d spent a lot of my life on the game \u2013 and stopping playing would mean that time was wasted.<\/p>\n

What I realised, though, was that there was no point wasting more time. The best time to quit is when you realise you\u2019re not gaining enough from something to justify the time\/cash that you\u2019re putting into it, and that the situation is never going to improve.<\/p>\n

Your interests naturally change over time, and sometimes, a shift in circumstances can mean that something formerly fun becomes boring. Don\u2019t get tied into things just because you\u2019ve done them for a long time in the past: you\u2019re allowed to quit at any time. If you\u2019ve watched three seasons of a TV show and you\u2019re bored, don\u2019t make yourself watch the fourth \u201cjust because I\u2019ve got this far\u201d. If you read half a novel and it\u2019s a monumental effort to keep going, just stop.<\/p>\n

Leave A Dead-End (For You) Job<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim Ferriss tells a great story in The Four-Hour Work Week, which describes the unsuccessful attempt to create a large carb-free cheesecake \u2013 and the subsequent consumption of the cake:<\/p>\n

“This new masterpiece … tasted like liquid cream cheese mixed with cold water and about 600 packets of sugar. … I grabbed the largest soup ladel with a sigh … I had wasted an entire Sunday and a boatload of ingredients \u2013 it was time to reap what I had sown.
\n… Stupid? Of course. It\u2019s about as stupid as one can get. This is a ridiculous and micro example of what people do on a larger scale with jobs all the time: self-imposed suffering that can be avoided.<\/em>”
\n(Tim Ferriss, The Four-Hour Work Week, pg 226)<\/p>\n

Perhaps you jumped straight into a job after college and belatedly realised it wasn\u2019t really for you. Whether this realisation comes after a month, a year or half a lifetime, it\u2019s okay to quit. Don\u2019t carry on making yourself miserable just because you feel like all that past misery would be wasted otherwise!<\/p>\n

Make yourself, and yourself alone, the judge of what constitutes a \u201cdead end\u201d job for you. You might have plenty of opportunities for promotion within your workplace \u2013 but if none of those higher positions interest you, it\u2019s time to get out.<\/p>\n

Nothing Is Wasted<\/strong><\/p>\n

Something I find quite comforting when cutting my losses and ditching an activity is to remember that nothing is wasted.\u00a0 You can always draw something good out:<\/p>\n

A leisure activity that you now dismiss as escapism and a waste of time may have helped you through a difficult period in your life.<\/p>\n

A relationship that didn\u2019t work out will have shown you something about yourself.
\nA job that is going nowhere for you will have taught you some useful skills. These might not be directly related to the actual work: one of the most useful things I learnt as an employee was to get over my dislike of answering the phone!<\/p>\n

New friends and contacts will probably have come into your life during your activity. Today, I have close friends who I initially met through playing the online game that I quit years ago. I\u2019m still in touch with colleagues from my former job.<\/p>\n

At the very least, you\u2019ll have learnt something about yourself. Maybe your failed attempt at freelancing has taught you that you need the structure of an office environment in order to work effectively. Perhaps all those unfinished novels have convinced you that you\u2019re never going to enjoy historical fiction, however often your friends recommend it.<\/p>\n

What activities are you currently engaged in that you want to quit? Why are you sticking with them \u2013 is it because you really will gain something at the end, or out of a misguided sense that you don\u2019t want to lose the time\/money already invested?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever started a project or activity, ground away at it for hours\/weeks\/years, and wanted to just give up? Sometimes, you know you need to push past temporary difficulties or discomfort in order to get where you want to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":12757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[9,17,30,6],"tags":[59,4645,503,4631,4634,4629],"yoast_head":"\nKnowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As a teen, I spent several hours every day playing a small online role playing game. When I eventually realised that the game had become less engaging (lots of players had left) and that I\u2019d grown and moved onto new interests, I was reluctant to quit. I felt that I\u2019d spent a lot of my life on the game \u2013 and stopping playing would mean that time was wasted.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a teen, I spent several hours every day playing a small online role playing game. When I eventually realised that the game had become less engaging (lots of players had left) and that I\u2019d grown and moved onto new interests, I was reluctant to quit. I felt that I\u2019d spent a lot of my life on the game \u2013 and stopping playing would mean that time was wasted.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-05-07T16:57:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-20T19:17:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/cut_your_losses_white_t_tshirt-p235051720560541071trlf_4001.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/cut_your_losses_white_t_tshirt-p235051720560541071trlf_4001.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/cut_your_losses_white_t_tshirt-p235051720560541071trlf_4001.jpg\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/\",\"name\":\"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-07T16:57:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-20T19:17:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"As a teen, I spent several hours every day playing a small online role playing game. When I eventually realised that the game had become less engaging (lots of players had left) and that I\u2019d grown and moved onto new interests, I was reluctant to quit. I felt that I\u2019d spent a lot of my life on the game \u2013 and stopping playing would mean that time was wasted.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits","description":"As a teen, I spent several hours every day playing a small online role playing game. When I eventually realised that the game had become less engaging (lots of players had left) and that I\u2019d grown and moved onto new interests, I was reluctant to quit. I felt that I\u2019d spent a lot of my life on the game \u2013 and stopping playing would mean that time was wasted.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits","og_description":"As a teen, I spent several hours every day playing a small online role playing game. When I eventually realised that the game had become less engaging (lots of players had left) and that I\u2019d grown and moved onto new interests, I was reluctant to quit. I felt that I\u2019d spent a lot of my life on the game \u2013 and stopping playing would mean that time was wasted.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2009-05-07T16:57:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-20T19:17:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1,"height":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/cut_your_losses_white_t_tshirt-p235051720560541071trlf_4001.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/cut_your_losses_white_t_tshirt-p235051720560541071trlf_4001.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/cut_your_losses_white_t_tshirt-p235051720560541071trlf_4001.jpg","width":1,"height":1},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/","name":"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2009-05-07T16:57:52+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-20T19:17:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"As a teen, I spent several hours every day playing a small online role playing game. When I eventually realised that the game had become less engaging (lots of players had left) and that I\u2019d grown and moved onto new interests, I was reluctant to quit. I felt that I\u2019d spent a lot of my life on the game \u2013 and stopping playing would mean that time was wasted.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/knowing-when-to-cut-your-losses-and-call-it-quits\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Knowing When To Cut Your Losses and Call It Quits"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}