Let’s talk about a BIG ONE today: ENDURANCE. The women I work with – and probably you too – have something in common, they are WORLD CLASS at ENDURANCE. Perseverance. Resilience. Pushing through. Gritting their teeth and persisting. No matter what. They are smart, GRITTY women. If a job needs doing, we make it happen.
Thing is… SHOULD WE?
Excellent image: @lizandmollie
Sometimes however, endurance is not our friend. Sometimes we need to…whisper it…think about QUITTING.
Now I don’t define myself as a quitter. And I am sure you don’t either. Theres a cultural belief that “quitting is bad”, which naturally leads us to pushing faster, higher harder. Not quitting means we get extra creative when we are looking to overcome obstacles, we use our initiative to come up with ingenious solutions under pressure. Not quitting, tenacity, determination can – in the right circumstances – be overwhelming forces for good.
Until they aren’t. Sometimes quitting is exactly the thing we need to do.
Sometimes the thing we absolutely need to do is quit.
Walk away with our head held high.
Move on. Let go.
Sometimes the cost of not quitting is just too high a price to pay.
There is a fabulous Zen proverb that I like: “Let Go or Be Dragged”.
I suggest that Letting Go is a much more empowered choice than Quitting which comes with that negative “don’t be a quitter” baggage.
Letting Go is consciously releasing our grip on something that on reflection no longer serves us.
Letting Go realising that holding on so tight is dragging us somewhere we don’t want to be.
It might be Letting Go of the University course we hate that’s driving us to depression.
It could be Letting Go of the increasingly needy relationship that’s sucking us dry.
It could be Letting Go of the job that sounds shiny and great on the outside but is a living nightmare on the inside.
How do we know when to Let Go?
How do we know it’s not quitting in disguise?
Here’s how to tell:
Letting Go: walking away from something that no longer serves our true self or that has too high a cost physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.
Quitting: walking away from something that does serve our highest self but that seems too hard or too much effort. Something that does serve us physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually but that we are lacking motivation or grit to get through a tricky patch.
It’s knowing the difference between managing a temporary crisis of motivation to get past an obstacle on a project that IS fundamentally serving us, versus, pouring good effort after bad into something that is actually no longer the right path for us and is dragging us somewhere we don’t want to be.
When you hit pause, stop and reflect you will know which is it.
Letting Go is not Quitting. It’s a very intentional choice to let go of something that is no longer the right option, in order that you can pour your energy, attention and time into something that will ♥️
Just because you CAN endure, doesn’t mean you have to.
Has this sparked a few thoughts for you today ? Something you want to intentionally Let Go of? You can let me know here.
As ever this was written for you BY ME, not by AI. If you have the grace to read what I have written, I think it’s important I honour your attention and I actually write it! My works is based on 15+ years coaching 1000’s of women, not feeding a prompt into ChatGPT for 5 minutes. I may well be the only coach still speaking to readers directly! You can let me (actual ME) know if that’s important to you too here.
Have a great week, guilt-free and let go of what you are ready to release, and channel your energy into what serves better.
