When I and we talk about starting something new – whether it be a new job, a new venture, a new place, a new relationship, we don’t focus on the starting.
No, we get hung up on the quitting.
We make bold statements like, “I’m going to quit my job.” We tell everyone how great it’s going to be to quit. To walk into our bosses office, toss him the finger, and pack up our things. And folks ohh and ahh at how impressive it is that we quit.
But quitting is easy. You can quit whatever it is you’re doing today, right now. You may not know what that means for tomorrow, but you have total control over quitting today. That, alone (quitting), doesn’t deserve the applause.
As Travis Campbell of 37signals says:
“Starting something is only a little bit harder. It’s easy to start something. Following through is the hard part. Just look at the landscape of abandoned blogs that litter the web for proof of that.”
We respect and admire those who not only quit – who not only start something – but who follow through. Who pursue something with everything within them for days, months, years – and see it through to success.
Those people who stick with it, even when the going gets tough. Even when they feel like giving up. Those people who keep creating. Keep trying. Keep moving forward. Keep doing.
We may get hung up on the quitting, but it’s the hustle, the drive, and the perseverance that is so attractive. It’s the follow through that should be applauded. That path is the one worth following.
As my friend Sarah Peck wrote yesterday on Twitter:
“The goal is not to quit your job. The goal is to find something worth doing, and do it.”
The story you write for yourself and the story we want to hear will not be one of quitting, but rather, one of beginning, and one of doing.