Don't underestimate the power of quitting...
Don't underestimate the power of quitting...
Have you ever talked yourself out of quitting something because
“you’d be a failure”,
“you worry what people would think”,
“you have no idea what you’d do next”,
“you tell yourself it’s not that bad”,
“you remind yourself that this is what you wanted”,
so
“you just need to suck it up.”
Sound familiar?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to close up shop and flee to some far off land (preferably warmer and breathtakingly beautiful ;)
Last week, one of my friends did just that. Not the fleeing part, the shutting down her business part. She tried to make her small biz work over the last 2 years while her personal life was also falling apart. When I read her email announcing her decision to quit, I initially felt sad and heard the lyrics to “another one bites the dust” in my head. I let my mind spiral a bit with the “ugh entrepreneurship is SO freaking hard; should I hang it up?; are any of us going to make it?; is this really what I want?” before I reigned it in and talked myself off a cliff.
I decided to stop making it all about me and reach out to her. I told her “I’m sorry” and “congratulations” and that I hoped she was onto something new and exciting. I told her I was sad it didn’t work out how she wanted it to, that I hoped there was something beautiful on the other side of this, and I reminded her that the best part about quitting is that you get to try something new. And if the new thing doesn’t work, you can always quit AGAIN. Turns out she got an incredible new job opportunity that is going to serve this season of her life so much better. I love a happy ending.
We as human beings grow and evolve, so it’s absolutely insane to think that our careers, interests and sometimes even friends wouldn’t change as well. And sometimes careers, interests, and friends don’t turn out to be what we were expecting.
We can get caught up in how it looks and forget to check in with how it feels.
It’s ok to change your mind.
It’s ok to no longer participate in things that are no longer (or maybe have never) brought you joy.
In fact, I encourage you to quit wasting your precious time on things you dislike.
It most likely will be sad. And probably not easy. But it will definitely be worth it.
I’ll be here ready to tell you “I’m sorry” and “congratulations”. And I can’t wait to see what beautiful thing is waiting for you on the other side.
Images by Personal Branding Maven Elise Kutt at Mod Bettie Portraits
My name is Anna VanAgtmael, and I am retreat host, travel designer, and a certified yoga instructor with a passion for yoga, travel, and connecting with others.
I believe in trying everything once. My values lie in collecting memories over things.
My ambition is to inspire and encourage you to unmask your fears and jump into the unknown.
Anna VanAgtmael | Retreat Host | Travel Designer