Thanks for the encouragement! I could use it.

Aristotle said that “We are what we repeatedly do….excellence then is not an act, but a habit”. That same concept can be applied to quitting and other decision making styles that we tend to do from time to time. I think one reason that quitting has a negative connotation is that once it becomes easy, or common, for an individual to quit something, they can fall into making it a habit. Then the struggle becomes to train yourself to stop quitting things when times get hard or confusing. Nothing in life worth having is free (not speaking financially, but life sacrifices and decisions) so we must all find out own balance on when to quit, when not to quit.

2) Be uncomfortable

The key is to not fall into the pattern of always being 100% comfortable with quitting and not to fall in the pattern of always being 100% comfortable in not quitting. I think a certain level of discomfort should always be there when quitting something and a certain level of discomfort should be there when we don’t quit something. All other factors aside, when a difficult situation comes your way, quitting or not quitting is a form of risk. You can risk losing something no matter what decision you choose when it comes to quitting and not quitting. Therefore, risk brings some type of discomfort (part of the human condition) no matter if you quit or not quit something difficult.

3) Opportunity Cost

When it comes to deciding when to quit and when not to quit, a concept from economics class makes it pretty simple for me. It all depends on the opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative when making decisions. For example, if I go to the movies when I could have been studying for an exam the next day, the opportunity cost for me to see the movie would be a few hours of studying…in other words…what are you giving up to do something else. If the opportunity cost is too great, then often times the other choice (quit or not to quit) will be decided.

4) You Always Learn

And when making decisions, I think we learn something whether we want to or not…whether or not we apply what we learned or fall into old habits is up to us. For example, if you get burned, you learn that fire is hot and that it hurts….whether or not you play with fire again doesn’t change the fact that you’ve learned that its hot. So keep in mind that what you call “instincts” could also be seen as a collection of learned information that is activated only when the proper sitaution presents itself

Your blog is looking great:) Keep it up!